Prince Philip's tourism rant

27 October 2008

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Britain's Prince Philip reportedly branded tourism "national prostitution" during his recent official visit to Slovenia.

The 87-year-old prince - who spent several days touring Slovakia and Slovenia with his wife, Queen Elizabeth - made the comments to a professor, despite royal aides continually claiming tourism is vital to the British economy.

Dr Maja Uran revealed the prince said to her: "Tourism is just national prostitution. We don't need any more tourists. They ruin cities."

Tourism is just national prostitution. We don't need any more tourists. They ruin cities.

One million people visit the queen's London residence Buckingham Palace and her Berkshire home Windsor Castle each year.

Uran was among four experts who met the prince in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, and during the meeting she told him she was planning on organising a network of people with sound local knowledge to help out tourists.

She told Britain's The Daily Mail newspaper: "He laughed and said, 'Tourism is just national prostitution.' I couldn't quite believe he used that word and we all collapsed in embarrassment."

Despite his comments, Uran enjoyed her discussion with Philip, claiming he was "charming".

She said: "I think the prince was charming and very funny. He had a twinkle in his eye and I thought he was very handsome. As a younger man, I'm sure he was very good-looking."The prince went on to crack another joke when he was talking to expert Maja Oven, who spoke to him about her idea to form meeting points in cities for people to discuss ideas.The prince reportedly replied: "They call those supermarkets, don't they?"The comments are the latest in a string of gaffes by the prince.He once said to a British student in China: "If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes."Philip also asked Australian Aborigines if they still "throw spears at each other" and said to a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'We would never discuss anything Prince Philip might have said.'

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