Prince's Patel rap

Prince Philip puts his foot in his mouth yet again, at a reception for 400 NRIs at Buckingham Palace

Prince Philip puts his foot in his mouth yet again, at a reception for 400 NRIs at Buckingham Palace

Prince Philip aka The Duke of Hazard has done it again. Famous for making off-colour remarks, the 88-year-old Duke of Edinburgh made another as he prepared to address a gathering of 400 influential British Indians.

At an event held to mark the arrival in the UK of Indian president Pratibha Patil, the Queen and Prince Philip
prepared to welcome guests.

While greeting businessman Atul Patel, the Prince noticed his name tag and remarked, "There's a lot of your family here tonight."

Given that Patel is the second most common surname in India, and the 24th in the UK, it's not that surprising that there was more than one present.

"It's a comment that shows he's out of touch and out of date," said Graham Smith of anti-monarchy group Republic.

Desi Treasures: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh show President Pratibha Patil and her husband Dr Devisingh Shekhawat Indian items from the Royal collection in Windsor Castle.

"There are a large number of Patels living in Britain and many will find it offensive that Prince Philip tries to joke that they're all related."

A spokesman for Patel has confirmed the exchange, but insisted that Patel took it as a joke.

No offence taken

"Absolutely no offence was taken at all by Atul," said the rep. "It was taken in a very light-hearted way."

"This is vintage Prince Philip gaffe, but I'm sure he didn't mean any offence. He's been putting his foot in it like this for years," said Phil Dampier, author of Duke of Hazard: The Wit and Wisdom of Prince Philip.

Prince of Gaffes

The 88-year-old prince's undiplomatic off-hand remarks have included:

"Still throwing spears?" (a question to an Australian Aborigine during a 2002 visit)

The same year he asked a driving instructor in Scotland: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?"

"You managed not to get eaten, then?" (to a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea, 1998).

In 1986 he commented to a group of British students in China: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed."

6.7 lakh
Number of Patels in UK