A few gaffs by Prince Phillip

BritinBritain

Per Ardua Ad Astra
Prince Phillip is not known for his tact.'

1.During a state visit to China in 1996 Philip described Beijing as "ghastly" and told British students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed."

2. “You’re too fat to be an astronaut,” the no-nonsense Duke apparently told 13 year-old Andrew Adams when visiting a rocket exhibit at Salford University in 2001.

According to reports, the conversation went as follows…
Prince Philip:*"Would you like to travel into space?"
Andrew Adams:*"Yes."
Prince Philip (laughing):*"You'll have to lose a bit of weight if you want to go in that.”

The schoolboy was reduced to tears after having his dreams dashed.

3.Aboriginal leader William Brin, of Queensland, was at the receiving end in 2002, when he remarked: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”*

4. After being told that Madonna was singing the 'Die Another Day' theme tune in 2002, the prince said: “Are we going to need ear plugs?”

5.In 2003, the old wisecracker told a robed President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo: “You look like you’re ready for bed!”*

6. Straight-talking Prince Philip told a Scottish driving instructor in 2005, "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?"

7. Discussing his views on the crippling 1981 recession, the Prince said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."*

8.* After the Duke struck up a conversation at a Garden Party in 2009, he was highly critical of the guest’s facial hair, saying: "Well, you didn't design your beard too well, did you? You really must try better with your beard."

9. The Duke has made a string of politically-incorrect comments to women over the years.* Two years ago, when a female Sea Cadet told him she worked in a nightclub, he famously replied: "Is it a strip club?"
 
I remember when he visited India and went to the site of the 1919 Amritsar massacre where British troops shot down people durring a peaceful demonstration, he read the plaque on the memorial then exclaimed "Did we really shoot that many? That can't be right!"
Subtlty and tact was never his strong point, but you got to admire him for not being afraid to speak his mind.
 
Phil the Greek? I thought he had German blood? I could have been mistaken...

Philip is Greek, Born 10 June 1921 (age 90) Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece.

Lord Louis Mountbatten name was originally German, Battenberg. It does get a bit complicated however.

The Windsor name now used by Queen Elizabeth II and other British royals only dates back to 1917. Before that the British royal family bore the German name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha in German).

World War I. Since August 1914 Britain had been at war with Germany. Anything German had a bad connotation, including the German name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Not only that, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm was a cousin of the British king. So on July 17, 1917, to prove his loyalty to England, Queen Victoria's grandson King George V officially declared that "all descendents in the male line of Queen Victoria, who are subjects of these realms, other than female descendents who marry or who have married, shall bear the name Windsor." Thus the king himself, who was a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, changed his own name and that of his wife, Queen Mary, and their children to Windsor. The new English name Windsor was taken from one of the king's castles.)

Queen Elizabeth II confirmed the royal Windsor name in a declaration following her accession in 1952. But in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip announced yet another name change. Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, whose mother had been Alice of Battenberg, had already Anglicized his name to Philip Mountbatten when he married Elizabeth in 1947. (Interestingly, all four of Philip's sisters, all now deceased, married Germans.) In her 1960 declaration to the Privy Council, the Queen expressed her wish that her children by Philip (other than those in line for the throne) would henceforth bear the hyphenated name Mountbatten-Windsor. The royal family's name remained Windsor.

The British House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) began with Queen Victoria's marriage to the German Prince Albert of Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha in 1840. Prince Albert (1819-1861) was also responsible for the introduction of German Christmas customs (including the Christmas tree) in England. The British royal family still celebrates Christmas on December 24th rather than on Christmas Day, as is normal English custom.

Now you know why I hated English history at school. lol
 
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Philip is Greek, Born 10 June 1921 (age 90) Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece.

Lord Louis Mountbatten name was originally German, Battenberg. It does get a bit complicated however.

The Windsor name now used by Queen Elizabeth II and other British royals only dates back to 1917. Before that the British royal family bore the German name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha in German).

World War I. Since August 1914 Britain had been at war with Germany. Anything German had a bad connotation, including the German name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Not only that, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm was a cousin of the British king. So on July 17, 1917, to prove his loyalty to England, Queen Victoria's grandson King George V officially declared that "all descendents in the male line of Queen Victoria, who are subjects of these realms, other than female descendents who marry or who have married, shall bear the name Windsor." Thus the king himself, who was a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, changed his own name and that of his wife, Queen Mary, and their children to Windsor. The new English name Windsor was taken from one of the king's castles.)

Queen Elizabeth II confirmed the royal Windsor name in a declaration following her accession in 1952. But in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip announced yet another name change. Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, whose mother had been Alice of Battenberg, had already Anglicized his name to Philip Mountbatten when he married Elizabeth in 1947. (Interestingly, all four of Philip's sisters, all now deceased, married Germans.) In her 1960 declaration to the Privy Council, the Queen expressed her wish that her children by Philip (other than those in line for the throne) would henceforth bear the hyphenated name Mountbatten-Windsor. The royal family's name remained Windsor.

The British House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) began with Queen Victoria's marriage to the German Prince Albert of Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha in 1840. Prince Albert (1819-1861) was also responsible for the introduction of German Christmas customs (including the Christmas tree) in England. The British royal family still celebrates Christmas on December 24th rather than on Christmas Day, as is normal English custom.

Now you know why I hated English history at school. lol

Ok, now I am beginning to hate English history, too! :)
 
Well, Price Philip... what can I say...

And people say that Simon Cowell has a sharp tongue...

Actually he is the only royal I do like outside Andrew primarily because he says what he thinks but once QE 2 keels over I am hoping New Zealand will become a Republic and kick the Monarchy for touch as I do not want to have Chuck III in charge.
 
Actually he is the only royal I do like outside Andrew primarily because he says what he thinks but once QE 2 keels over I am hoping New Zealand will become a Republic and kick the Monarchy for touch as I do not want to have Chuck III in charge.

I don't think Charlie boy will become king, I think William will take HRH's place. Charlie blotted his copy book with the British people over his treatment of Diana and the royal family attitude which what was seen as total disregard over her death.

Just my opinion.
 
I hope you are right although I disliked Diana as well, I think she manipulated the press very well but the fact is that it is time we moved on.
 
Actually he is the only royal I do like outside Andrew primarily because he says what he thinks---snip---
I gained my admiration for Princess Anne the day she was at the Royal Horse show at Windsor, where although she was surrounded by several young staff who were presumably looking after the kids. She told them to stop running about, and when the eldest didn't, she never admonished the staff, but got out of her chair and without further ado caught caught him, and gave him a good hard open handed slap across the back of the legs and after wagging her finger whilst saying something we couldn't hear, she sat back down.

The kids settled down and watched the show after that.

How I wish we had recorded it. I reckon she'd make a bloody good King :smile:
 
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I gained my admiration for Princess Anne the day she was at the Royal Horse show at Windsor, where although she was surrounded by several young staff who were presumably looking after the kids. She told them to stop running about, and when the eldest didn't, she never admonished the staff, but got out of her chair and without further ado caught caught him, and gave him a good hard open handed slap across the back of the legs and after wagging her finger whilst saying something we couldn't hear, she sat back down.

The kids settled down and watched the show after that.

How I wish we had recorded it. I reckon she'd make a bloody good King :smile:

Prince Phillip said of Princess Anne, "If it doesn't eat hay and farts, she's not interested."

A few more gaffs:-

To his wife, the Queen, after her coronation
“Where did you get the hat?”

When asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union
“The bastards murdered half my family”

After the Dunblane shooting
“If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?”

To a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea
“You managed not to get eaten, then?”

To Elton John after hearing Elton had sold his Gold Aston Martin
“Oh, it’s you that owns that ghastly car – we often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.”

On key problems facing Brazil
“Brazilians live there”

After accepting a conservation award in Thailand in 1991:
“Your country is one of the most notorious centres of trading in endangered species.”

At a project to protect turtle doves in Anguilla in 1965, he said:
“Cats kill far more birds than men. Why don’t you have a slogan: ‘Kill a cat and save a bird?’”

On the Duke of York’s house, 1986:
“It looks like a tart’s bedroom.”

At party in 2004:
“Bugger the table plan, give me my dinner!”

On Tom Jones, 1969:
“It’s difficult to see how it’s possible to become immensely valuable by singing what are the most hideous songs.”

To Cayman Islanders:
“Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?”

At a WF meeting in 1986:
“If it has four legs and it’s not a chair, if it’s got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane and if it swims and it’s not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.”

When offered wine in Rome in 2000, he snapped:
“I don’t care what kind it is, just get me a beer!”

At a Bangladeshi youth club in 2002:
“So who’s on drugs here?... HE looks as if he’s on drugs.”

To black politician Lord Taylor of Warwick, 1999:
“And what exotic part of the world do you come from?”
 
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I don't think Charlie boy will become king, I think William will take HRH's place. Charlie blotted his copy book with the British people over his treatment of Diana and the royal family attitude which what was seen as total disregard over her death.

Just my opinion.

I actually would like to agree very much with you, Opa Brit...

Can never picture Charlie as King... oh no... if that happens, you will have the Rotweiller as Queen- yucks!
 
Actually he is the only royal I do like outside Andrew primarily because he says what he thinks but once QE 2 keels over I am hoping New Zealand will become a Republic and kick the Monarchy for touch as I do not want to have Chuck III in charge.

I agree about Prince Andrew.
He showed his worth during the Falklands conflict, flying close in to rescue people after the Sir Gallahad was hit.
A lot of people especially the press forget that when they're giving him a hard time.
 
I actually would like to agree very much with you, Opa Brit...

Can never picture Charlie as King... oh no... if that happens, you will have the Rotweiller as Queen- yucks!

My German Shepherd Molly is prettier then his missus, and I'm not kidding. I did read somewhere that if Charles did become King, she wouldn't be granted the title of Queen. Possibly "Keeper of the Royal kennels," she'd be right at home there.
 
I agree about Prince Andrew.
He showed his worth during the Falklands conflict, flying close in to rescue people after the Sir Gallahad was hit.
A lot of people especially the press forget that when they're giving him a hard time.
He is a great guy. Have met him a few times.

Prince Edward....!
Well. "Proof that you can turn a frog into a Prince, but you can't turn a Prince into a Royal Marine"
 
My German Shepherd Molly is prettier then his missus, and I'm not kidding. I did read somewhere that if Charles did become King, she wouldn't be granted the title of Queen. Possibly "Keeper of the Royal kennels," she'd be right at home there.

I wanted to suggest that the title of "Keeper" be changed to "Occupant", but I see that Monty has beaten me to it.

The only reason that I can think of that Charlie wanted to have Carmilla is probably he was not allowed to keep a British Bulldog as a pet!...
 
He is a great guy. Have met him a few times.

Prince Edward....!
Well. "Proof that you can turn a frog into a Prince, but you can't turn a Prince into a Royal Marine"

RM42, you know something we don't...? You mind sharing...:smile:
 
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