Monarchy - HRH Prince Philip

Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, used £20,000 of taxpayers' money to fund a £4,250-an-hour Sikorsky helicopter to take him to the Lowther Horse Trials, near Penrith, Cumbria. He got round strict rules governing the use of the Royal Flight by combining the trip with a hastily-organised one-hour visit to a factory. His tour of the Tornado Wire Company, in Millom, was set up in just 10 weeks. Royal visits are usually arranged up to a year in advance. Buckingham Palace confirmed the trip was paid for by taxpayers, claiming it was a "rare exception".

If he had not been making the public appearance he would have had to pay for the helicopter trip himself. The firm, which had not specifically asked for the Duke to make the visit, was surprised at how little time he spent there. The royal travel budget is funded by the Department of Transport, and ultimately the taxpayer. Prince Philip, the man for whom the term “politically correct” is completely alien, apparently believes he is misunderstood and that many of his remarks are misconstrued. Take a look at the evidence from the last few years. 2002 was a particularly a good year!

2004 - The Prince found his way blocked by Sandie Holland's wheelchair at a farm show in South Wales and said, "You are a bit of a menace in that thing." He pointed to the metal foot rests and said, "They catch people's ankles." Buckingham Palace tried to play down the gaffe, claiming that the duke had been referring to a protruding umbrella.

2003 - The Prince approached a group of parents in the hall at Sheffield’s Fir Vale school and asked, “Were you here in the bad old days, then?” Two women nodded politely, and the Prince said, “That’s why you can’t read and write then!”

2003 - Patriotic George Barlow, 14, wrote to the Queen and Prince Philip inviting them to his school in Redden Court Romford, Essex. But as Philip was introduced to nervous George during the visit he rudely barked, “Ah you’re the one who wrote the letter. So you can write then? Ha, ha! Well done.”

2003 - The Prince told bemused onlookers, "It is surprising the way things have changed since I first became chancellor of the university 50 years ago." But the university was only celebrating its 40th anniversary and the real chancellor is the opera singer Dame Janet Baker.

2002 - At the Bangladesh Youth Club, in Marylebone, Central London, embarrassed a boy of 14 by telling onlookers, "He looks as if he's on drugs" only moments after turning to the youngster's friends, and smirking, "So who's on drugs here?"

2002 - "Of course the problem with London is the tourists. They cause the congestion. They block the streets. If we could just stop tourism we could stop the congestion."

2002 - During the Queen's Jubilee visit to a North London Murugan Temple in North London, he asks a Sri Lankan priest, "Are you the Tamil Tigers?"

2002 - In Australia as part of the Golden Jubilee "World Tour" after taking in a performance by an Aboriginal dance troop, he wisely avoids racial stereotypes by deftly asking an Aboriginal leader, “Do you still throw spears at each other?”

2002 - During the Golden Jubilee tour of Britain, he jokes, “Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?” upon confronting a visually impaired, wheelchair bound lady and her guide dog.

2001 - During a visit to Salford University to inspect the NOVA spacecraft, he asked a 13 year old schoolboy about the spacecraft before saying, "Well, you'll never fly in it, you're too fat to be an astronaut."

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