This article is a couple of weeks old, and the remarks in question are way older, but I wanted to share it because it highlights how old school racism still persists among folks who refuse to let go of outdated attitudes: Duke of Edinburgh defends 'slitty-eyed' gaffe 25 years on.In 1986, on an official visit to China, Prince Philip notoriously told a group of British exchange students, "If you stay here much longer you'll be slitty-eyed" -- a remark the Duke of Ediburgh remains unapologetic for, nearly twenty-five years later:
While on an official visit to China in October 1986 he notoriously told a group of British exchange students living in the city of Xian: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed."On behalf of all the "slitty-eyed" people of the world, happy birthday, Your Royal Highness. 90 years old and you're still keeping it classy.
However, during a BBC documentary to mark his 90th birthday next month, he claims the resulting outcry was disproportionate.
He said: "I'd forgotten about it. But for one particular reporter who overheard it, it wouldn't have come out. What's more, the Chinese weren't worried about it, so why should anyone else?"
At the time the Queen's press secretary, Michael Shea, initially disputed the "slitty-eyed" reference, then tried to explain it as "a matter of physiological fact", before eventually dismissing it as trivia.