Call Simon Cowell a sponger? Not me says Prince Philip

Cowell told The Tonight Show, an American chat show broadcast in Britain, that the Duke was rude when he met him after the Royal Variety Show.

The X Factor judge also claimed the Queen "ignored" him.

The Palace rejected the accusations. A spokesman said: "The Duke of Edinburgh categorically did not call Mr Cowell a sponger. He has no reason to. He has said he does not know enough about Mr Cowell to make any sort of comment about him. Mr Cowell may have misheard the Duke, he has a very soft voice."

The spokesman added: "The Queen doesn't ignore people. She has many people to meet after such a show."

But in an extraordinary twist, Piers Morgan, who judges ITV's Britain's Got Talent with Cowell, claimed he heard every word of the exchange while standing next to Cowell in the after-show line-up.

Morgan, who detailed the incident in his serialised diaries, said: "I can categorically say it happened.

"I was standing there with Simon Cowell on my right and (singer) Paul Potts on my left. Prince Philip said 'So you sponge off him, then?' pointing at Potts. He was directing it at both Simon and me, but mainly at Simon.

"It was typical Prince Philip. Confronted by people like me and Simon, he didn't intend to be flattering."

He added that the Queen "didn't seem to know who Simon was" and gave him a cursory handshake before moving on, "which I found highly entertaining".

He joked: "If we all have to trudge off to court, I'm available."

Cowell, 49, told chat show host Jay Leno he met the royal couple backstage in December. "It was actually embarrassing. It is called the Royal Variety Show, so she (the Queen) is in the audience. At the end, if you are involved in it, you have to stand around for hours and then say hello. She ignored me and her husband called me a sponger. That means somebody who makes their money by sponging off other people. It was a bit awkward."

Leno asked: "Was he trying to be insulting?" Cowell replied: "Yes, I think he was trying to be rude. So I just mumbled something and he walked off."

Cowell has become one of the most famous faces on US television with American Idol, which attracts 30 million voters each week.