Watch CBS News

Flap Over Prince Harry Racial Slurs

The video at the center of Great Britain's latest royal uproar was shot by one of the Queen's own grandson's.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that during his 2006 tour in Iraq, Prince Harry shot a video that he likely wishes never surfaced. It has.

The video shows Harry and his fellow cadets waiting to fly to Cyprus on training exercises. Zooming in on one of the squadron members, Harry identifies him as a "Paki," a common derogatory term in Britain for people of South Asian descent.

"There's a little Paki," Harry is heard saying.

The cadet pictured is believed to be Ahmed Raga Khan, a member of Harry's squadron from Pakistan. He was given the outstanding Overseas Cadet Award by the Queen at Sandhurst, Britain's elite military college which Prince Harry also attended.

A spokesman for Prince Harry said he had apologized for using the term, but had not intended any malice.

"That word he used is a hate word and should never be used against any Pakistani," said Kahn's father Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Abbasi, who lives in Pakistan.

Khan's uncle, who lives in Britain, says it was a "hurtful" remark.

Later in the same video Harry describes another fellow cadet wearing mosquito netting as "looking like a raghead."

Three years ago, Harry sparked outrage when he appeared at a costume party dressed as a Nazi. On another occasion, the young Prince, who is now 24, got into a fight with photographers as he stumbled drunk out of a London club.

While boys - even royal ones - will be boys, it's a safe bet the palace, which works hard on its polished and gracious image, is not amused.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.