HE has been dropping clangers for more than half a century.
And Prince Philip proved he hasn't lost his appetite for mischief during a visit to a Luton hospital yesterday.
In the latest of a long, long list of cringe-worthy comments, the 91-year-old Duke told a Filipino nurse her country must be "half empty. You're all here running the NHS."
No-one is immune from Phil's lack of tact - women, heads of state... even children.
Here The Sun celebrates the Duke of Hazard's top ten gaffes.
1) " You look like you're ready for bed"
During a meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, the Duke told the bemused politician his ceremonial dress looked like a pair of jim-jams, exclaiming: " You look like you're ready for bed.
2) "You ARE a woman, aren't you?"
After accepting a figurine from a local during a visit to Kenya in 1984, Philip left everyone in the room red-faced when he had to double check their gender, asking the poor woman "You ARE a women, aren't you?"
3) "....the Cantonese will eat it"
During a meeting with the World Wildlife Fund in 1993 the Duke came out with a bizarre critique of Cantonese cuisine, telling dumb-struck attendees: "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."
4) Cowboys and Indians
A tour of a factory in Edinburgh in 2000 took an awkward twist when Philip spotted a fuse box and told his hosts "it looks as though it was put in by an Indian".
He later explained he had meant to say "cowboy" but it was too late and Buckingham Palace was forced to issue an apology.
5) Don't drink and drive
He may be Duke of Edingburgh - but that doesn't mean Phil spares the Scottish from his cutting brand of comedy.
Especially when it comes to their age-old stereotype as heavy drinkers.
When meeting a driving instructor north of the border in 1995, he asked him: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?
6) Too fat to be an astronaut
He doesn't spare children either. In 2001 Philip shattered 13-year-old Andrew Adams' dreams of going into space.
During a one-on-one chat, the prince told the aspiring astronaut: "You'll have to lose a bit of weight first."
7) We are family
During a meeting at the 2009 Royal Variety Performance, Philip asked the ELEVEN members of black dance troup Diversity: "Are you all one family."
To make matters worse, he then asked the London-based group: "Have you come over for this show?"
Comedian Jason Manford overheard the cringeworthy conversation, and later said: "I thought, 'No they're from London - they've done the same journey you have'."
"...We are still drying out Windsor Castle."
Phil's most tactless gaffe came when he met survivors of the Lockerbie bombing. Comparing the devastating death of 270 people to the recent fire at Windsor Castle, the prince said: "People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still drying out Windsor Castle."
9) "You managed not to get eaten, then"
Philip uttered this immortal lime to a bemused backpacker who had trekked across Papua New Guinea in 1998 - and didn't end up in a giant pot.
10) "Slitty-eyed"
In 1986 Philip achieved his singularly most cringe-worthy clanger when meeting British teenagers in the Chinese city of Xian. He warned the students if they lived in the Far East for a year they would "go native and come home slitty-eyed”.


By IAN GARLAND
Published: 21st February 2013
Link : http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4806418/Prince-Philips-top-ten-gaffes.html

Little wonder e keeps having recurring UTI's

.

No jab at his prodigal grand son harry?

No wonder he is called Prince Foolip.