Councillor ‘saddened’ by prince’s racist remarks

Jan 12 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

The footage was shot while Harry was training to be an officer at the Sandhurst military academy.

During the three-year-old film – some of it recorded by the Prince himself – he introduces fellow soldiers by their nicknames.

He refers to one of them, identified as “Ahmed”, as “our little Paki friend.”

To another colleague, wearing a camouflage veil, he says: “Dan the man. F*** me, you look like a raghead.”

St James’s Palace said Harry – third in line to the throne – was using a nickname for a friend and the comment was without any malice.

“Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term can be and is extremely sorry for any offence his words might cause,” the statement added.

Clr Kahn said the matter should be left to the army.

But he added: “People will expect Prince Harry to be dealt with in exactly the same way as anyone else.

“If he is dealt with differently or less harshly than others, people will start to ask questions about if this is an institutional issue.

“Members of Huddersfield’s Asian community have a great deal of respect and admiration for the work done by the Royal Family. I hope this will be dealt with and won’t do any lasting damage.”