THE DUKE’S MEMORABLE GAFFES OVER THE YEARS

Prince Philip committed so many gaffes that he came up with a term to describe this tendency: Dontopedalogy. In an address to the General Dental Council in

1960 he explained, “Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years.”

When he and the Queen met an army cadet blinded by an IRA bomb in 2002, the Queen asked how much sight he retained. Philip quipped, “Not a lot,

judging by the tie he is wearing.”

Addressing Sir Elton John, he said, “Oh, it’s you that owns that ghastly car,

is it? We often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.” Later, at the Royal Variety Performance watching Elton perform in 2001, he said, “I wish he’d turn the microphone off.”

Talking about his equestrian-inclined daughter Anne in 1970: “If it doesn’t

fart or eat hay, she isn’t interested.”

After being told that Madonna was singing the Die Another Day theme in 2002, the Duke of Edinburgh asked, “Are we going to need earplugs?”

To singer Tom Jones after the 1969 Royal Variety Performance: “It’s difficult

to see how it is possible to become immensely valuable by singing what I think are the most hideous songs.”

On a visit to Canada in 1969: “I declare

this thing open, whatever it is.”

When accepting a gift from a woman during a 1984 visit to Kenya:

“You are a woman, aren’t you?”

Shouted to the Queen from the deck of Britannia in Belize in 1994, who was chatting.

“Yak, yak, yak – come on, get a move on.”

To a Scottish driving instructor in 1995: “How do you keep the locals off the booze

long enough to pass the test?”