London: Britain's Prince Harry has apologised for the racial and offensive remarks he had made three years ago against two of his colleagues, calling one of them a "Paki" while other as "raghead".
Harry, third-in-line to the British throne, issued a public apology yesterday after The News of the World newspaper reported about him using the offensive terms.
Paki is a derogatory term for Indians and Pakistanis.
The Prince, who is an Army Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals, made the remark in 2006 at an airport departure lounge as soldiers waited to travel to Cyprus for training exercises.
"Harry was making a film of his army mates using a camcorder. He was talking over it -- moving the shots to different individuals. But when he passed over an Asian-looking soldier, he stopped and zoomed in. Then he said, 'And here is our Paki friend' -- before moving on to someone else," the report said quoting a senior Royal source.
The video was available on the newspaper's website.
The 24-year-old Prince made the second remark in Cyprus when he called another cadet -- wearing a headscarf -- a "raghead", a racist term for Arabs.
St James Palace, the office of Harry and his elder brother Prince William, yesterday issued an statement saying Harry was sorry for any offence caused by his use of words.
"Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term can be and is extremely sorry for any offence his word might cause," a spokesperson for the St James Palace said.
He used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon. There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seeking to insult his friend, he added.
