Duke of Edinburgh back to his old self

Duke of Edinburgh: 'Philippines must be half empty because you're all
working on NHS'


The Duke of Edinburgh has told a Filipino nurse that her country must be
"half empty" because so many of her compatriots work for the NHS.








During a state visit to China in
1986, Priunce Philip told British students that they would become 'slitty-eyed'
if they stayed there Photo: Getty
Images





By Steven Swinford

3:40PM GMT 20 Feb 2013





The 91-year-old joked with staff during a visit to Luton and Dunstable
Hospital, where he unveiled a £5.5million cardiac centre.


Describing himself as being in a "jovial" mood, he said he was the "world's
most experienced curtain puller" and asked when the hospital would be getting a
helipad to save him by the journey by car.


He then told one of the nurses: "The Philippines must be half empty - you're
all here running the NHS." She laughed in response.


Prince Philip is renowned for his controversial gaffes. During a state visit
to China in 1986, he told British students that they would become "slitty-eyed"
if they stayed there.


In 1994 he caused offence after asking a resident on the Cayman Islands:
"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?"



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Four years later, speaking to a student who had been trekking in Papua New
Guinea, he said: "You managed not to get eaten then."

In 2002, he asked Australian aborigines during a foreign visit: "Do you still
throw spears at each other then?"

A spokesman for Luton and Dunston hospital would not comment on the Duke of
Edinburgh's comment, but said that the hospital has not held a recent recruiting
campaign in the Phillipines.

"Luton is a very cosmopolitan town and the working staff at Luton and
Dunstable Hospital reflects that," the spokesperson said.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council said there are 16,184 Filipino nurses in
the UK.