Prince Philip's Patel Gaffe

3 weeks ago 27th Oct 14:00

Britain's Prince Philip has made another gaffe, this time mocking an Indian man's surname.

The Duke of Edinburgh - who is known for his off-colour comments - made his latest blunder at a party at Buckingham Palace attended by 400 influential British Indians to celebrate a state visit by Indian President Pratibha Patil.

As guests lined up to greet Philip and his wife Queen Elizabeth, Philip read businessman Atul Patel's nametag and said: "There's a lot of your family in tonight".

Philip's joke refers to the stereotype that all Patels are related, as it is the second most popular Indian surname after Singh.

Anti-monarchy group Republic has condemned the 88-year-old royal's comments.

Spokesman Graham Smith told: "Making a joke about people called Patel is deeply embarrassing given the timing of the Indian state visit.

"At best it's a comment that shows he's out of touch and out of date. 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."

But Mr. Patel has dismissed Republic's claims, insisting he took Philip's remarks as a joke.

How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?

The businessman's spokesman said: "Absolutely no offence was taken at all by Atul. It was taken in a very light-hearted way."

This is not the first time the prince has become embroiled in a row over one of his remarks.

Commenting about the state of unemployment in 1981, he said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."

While chatting to a driving instructor in Scotland, he queried: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?"