Prince Harry in bind for racist slur

Britain’s Prince Harry made rac­ist remarks, calling an Asian army comrade a “Paki” and telling an­other he looked like a “raghead”, a British newspaper reported.The News of the World made the report after it acquired a vid­eo of the 24-year-old prince, the third in line to the throne.The video, made by the prince in 2006 when he was still an offi­cer cadet, begins as he is waiting at an airport for a flight to Cyprus for a training exercise. Spotting an Asian cadet, he says: “Anybody else around here?… Ah, our little Paki friend, Ahmed.”“Paki” is a derogatory term for Indians or Pakistanis. Harry makes the second re­mark while on exercise with his platoon in Cyprus.

Once again he is behind the camera, when he spots one of his comrades with what appears to be some camouflage netting over his head and as he looks up at the lens, Harry says: “It’s Dan the Man… Fuck me, you look like a raghead.” “Raghead” is a racist term for Arabs.

The News of the World made the video available on its website.The royal family issued an apology, but said the prince had used the term “Paki” “without malice”. The statement said: “Prince Harry fully understands how of­fensive this term can be, and is extremely sorry for any offence his words might cause.

“However, on this occasion three years ago, Prince Harry used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon. “There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seek­ing to insult his friend. “Prince Harry used the term ‘raghead’ to mean Taliban or Iraqi insurgent.”

The prince served with the army in Afghanistan in last year but was forced to return home amid security fears after a care­fully arranged media blackout on his deployment was broken.