Philip's latest gaffe: asking Hindu priests if they are terrorists

The Duke of Edinburgh has once again shown his unerring talent for putting his foot in his mouth. Accompanying the Queen to a Hindu temple, Prince Philip left venerable priests speechless by inquiring whether they were Tamil Tiger terrorists.

The Duke showed his diplomatic skills soon after he and the Queen were presented with garlands of flowers as guests at the Murugan Temple in north London.

As the Queen spoke to worshippers, the Duke ambled up to the priests to engage them in small talk. "He asked us which part of Sri Lanka we were from," one said. "We said we were from the north and the east of the island, and that we were Tamils.

"He then asked, 'Are you Tigers?' No one said anything for a few minutes and then I explained, 'No, we are priests. We are not associated with violence'."

The priests insisted that no offence had been taken at what the Duke said. One giggled: "He does say interesting things, doesn't he? It must be his sense of humour we keep reading about so much."

Sallathurai Vaithilingan, chairman of the temple, would only say: "It was a great honour for us to have the Queen visit our temple. She and the Duke abided by our tradition of not walking in leather shoes in the temple area."

The royal couple were blessed by four priests during the visit to the temple, which is dedicated to the six-headed god Murugan. The visit was part of the Queen's golden jubilee aim of visiting the many faiths in Britain.

The civil war in Sri Lanka has claimed thousands of lives. The Tigers have been fighting for an autonomous homeland for Tamils, although the main faction has recently declared a ceasefire.

The Queen was apparently unaware of her consort's gaffe, as were most of the worshippers. One said later: "Our priests are the most conservative and pacifist you can imagine, so it must have been quite a shock when they were accused of being guerrillas.

"It's like going to a Catholic church and asking the priests if they were members of the IRA. But what can one say when the Queen's husband comes out with something like that?"