Prince Philip still likes a joke



We read:

"Britain's Prince Philip has reportedly made one of his notorious gaffes by joking with a British-Indian business leader about his name, a newspaper said.

During a reception at Buckingham Palace for some 400 influential British Indians, the husband of the Queen greeted Atul Patel by glancing at his name tag and saying: "There's a lot of your family in tonight."

According to The Sun newspaper, the comment appeared to suggest that all Patels are related. Patel is a common Indian surname, and there are an estimated 670,000 Patels living in Britain, the tabloid said.

A spokesman for Patel, who is chief executive of leading housing association the LHA-Asra group, said no offence was taken by the remark. "Absolutely no offence was taken at all by Atul. It was taken in a very light hearted way," the spokesman told the newspaper....

The prince's comment was condemned by Republic, a group campaigning to abolish the monarchy, as "deeply embarrassing"...

The 88-year-old prince is well known for undiplomatic off-hand remarks, which have included:

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

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

Source

"Patel" means landlord, which is why it is common.