BARACK OBAMA was yesterday introduced to one of the oldest traditions of British political life – the Prince Philip gaffe.
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At a G20 event at Buckingham Palace, the US President swapped tales with the Queen’s husband and at one point listed his activities from earlier in the day
“I had breakfast with the Prime Minister, I had meetings with the Chinese, the Russians, David Cameron and I’m proud to say I did not nod off in one of the meetings,” he said.
“Can you tell the difference between them?” came the royal reply.
The presence of David Cameron in the list sort of saves the Prince from instant charges of daft racism, but suspicious minds will likely think otherwise, given Philip’s previous record.
Probably the most famous gaffe came 23 years ago when he told British tourists in China that, “if you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”
Then there was the time in 1998 he said a Papua New Guinea visitor was lucky not to have been eaten and who can forget the Prince saying of a botched electrical job that it looked like it had been “installed by Indians”?
Obama and the other world leaders head for the ExCel centre in Docklands today for the start of the G20 proper, where the world will either be saved from economic doom, or a bland communique will be issued promising to try harder.
Anti-capitalist demonstrators will be there as wel, for day two of their series of matches with the police.
