Racial row reaches Prince Charles

Tuesday, 13 January 2009 12:00 AM

By Ian Dunt

The row over Prince Harry's racial comments about an army colleague has reached Prince Charles.

The Prince refers to a close family friend of Asian descent as 'Sooty', it has been revealed.

The friend in question is Kolin Dhillon, a former chairman of the Schools and Universities Polo Association, and a member of the Cirencester Polo Club along with Prince Charles and his two sons.

Friends at the club say the term is an "affectionate nickname".

The revelation will cause further headaches for the royal family as it deals with the fallout from Prince Harry's video, in which he describes a friend as "our little Paki friend".

A fellow member of Cirencester Polo Club told The Daily Telegraph Mr Dhillon took no offence to the name.

"To me, this shows what a nonsense this brouhaha over what Harry said really is," he said.

"They are no more racists than I am and I use the word to address this chap whenever I see him too. I suppose we all see it as a sort of running joke about political correctness."

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