Prince’s candid remark to charity workers takes the cake
LONDON: Sometimes he just cannot help saying what he thinks. So, the Duke of Edinburgh took one look at a group of women at a community centre this week and asked them: “Who do you sponge off ?”
His question came during a tour of one of London’s most deprived boroughs, Dagenham, with his wife Queen Elizabeth II. The women had waited to greet the 94-year-old at the Chadwell Heath Community Centre, where volunteers are given the chance to gain employment skills.
It would not be the first time Prince Philip had uttered something regrettable but on this occasion no offence was taken.
In fact, one of the women answered his teasing question by saying they “sponged” off their husbands.
Philip’s comment was taken in good humour by Nusrat Zamir, 35, a trustee of the centre, who said: “The Duke said to us, ‘Who do you sponge off ?’ We’re all married, so it’s our husbands. He was just teasing and it’s similar to what I call my husband – the wallet.”
Later, a royal aide claimed the remark was a pun on the fact Zamir had presented the queen with a large iced sponge cake. “There’s a context here – they were talking about a sponge cake. No offence was intended or taken. The whole visit took place in a wonderful atmosphere.”
Zamir said Philip also asked her group of women, “Do you meet to have a gossip?”
But she took the comment in good cheer, adding: “It’s a famil-
in Papua New Guinea in 1998 iar question; a lot of people say what the duke said but we do a lot of work. When we organised a fair in March that took a lot of organising and time.”
As well as joking with the women, the Duke of Edinburgh poked fun at resident Martin Shaw. He said: “I told Philip I’m a professional fundraiser and he said, ‘Do you have any friends left?’ I said: ‘Not many.’”
The duke’s propensity for gaffes is well documented. In 1986, he joked that British students in China might become “slitty-eyed”, then in 2002 he asked some Aborigines if they “still chuck spears at each other”. But supporters say that far from being accident-prone, the duke is a “sophisticated satirist” who knows precisely what he is doing and saying.
Yesterday’s remark came days after he was caught on camera shouting, “Just take the f****** picture” during a photocall in London for the Battle of Britain anniversary. He seemed to lose patience with how long it was taking for the photo to be taken. – Daily Mail
A FEW OF PHILIP’S FAMOUS GAFFES