Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh (husband of Queen Elizabeth II) turned 90 years old the other day - the guy is known in the UK for coming out with some very politically incorrect but hilarious comments when on official engagements. Here are some of his best ones:
ON STATE VISITS ‘You look like you’re ready for bed!’ To the President of Nigeria, who was wearing traditional robes.
‘Do you still throw spears at each other?’ To Aboriginal leader William Brin during a visit to the Aboriginal Cultural Park in Queensland, 2002.
‘We don’t come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves.’ On a trip to Canada in 1976.
‘You managed not to get eaten then?’ To a British student who was trekking in Papua New Guinea, during an official visit in 1998.
‘Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?’ To residents of the Cayman Islands in 1994.
ON EUROPE ‘I would like to go to Russia very much — although the bastards murdered half my family.’ In 1967, when asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union.
ON SCOTLAND ‘How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?’ To a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.
‘It looks as though it was put in by an Indian.’ The Prince’s verdict on a fuse box given during a tour of a Scottish factory in August 1999. He later apologised: ‘I meant to say cowboys. I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up.’
‘People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still drying out Windsor Castle.’ To survivors of the Lockerbie bombing in 1993.
ON CHINA‘Ghastly.’ Prince Philip’s opinion of Beijing, during a tour of China in 1986.
‘If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.’ To a meeting of the World Wildlife Fund in 1986.
‘If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.’ To a British student on a visit to China in 1986.
ON MULTI-CULTURAL BRITAIN ‘There’s a lot of your family in tonight.’ After noticing business leader Atul Patel’s name badge during a Buckingham Palace reception for 400 influential British Indians in 2009.
‘So who’s on drugs here? He looks as if he’s on drugs.’ To a 14-year-old member of a Bangladeshi youth club in 2002.
‘Are you all one family?’ Said to mixed-race dance troupe Diversity at the 2009 Royal Variety Performance.
ON WOMEN‘British women can’t cook.’ Endearing himself to the Scottish Women’s Institute in 1961.
‘Ah, so this is feminist corner then.’ To a group of female Labour MPs at a Buckingham Palace drinks party in 2000.
‘You are a woman, aren’t you?’ To a Kenyan woman in 1984, after accepting a state gift.
‘If it doesn’t fart or eat hay, she isn’t interested.’ On his daughter, Princess Anne.
‘When a man opens the car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.’
ON CELEBRITY ‘What do you gargle with — pebbles?’ To Tom Jones, after the Royal Variety Performance, 1969. He later added: ‘It is very difficult at all to see how it is possible to become immensely valuable by singing what I think are the most hideous songs.’
‘Oh, it’s you that owns that ghastly car, is it? We often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.’ To near-neighbour Elton John after hearing that he had sold his Watford FC-themed Aston Martin in 2001.
ON FOOD & DRINK ‘Get me a beer. I don’t care what kind it is, just get me a beer!’ On being offered fine Italian wines by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato at a dinner in Rome in 2000.
‘Don’t feed your rabbits pawpaw fruit — it acts as a contraceptive. Then again, it might not work on rabbits.’ To a Caribbean rabbit breeder in Anguilla in 1994.
ON BODYBUILDING'Dorian was always better than Ronnie - in fact Ronnie's father used to shine Dorian's father's shoes during the Korean War.'
