Is Prince Harry really racist?

Diana must be turning in her grave. Harry, the son of the princess who embraced a Pakistani surgeon, an Arab playboy and a multitude of African orphans, has been caught calling a fellow soldier a "Paki". I wonder how he would have described Dr Hasnat Khan had his mum fulfilled her desire to marry him: "My Paki stepdad"?

However, his offhand comment, made while shooting a video as he and his equally bored colleagues waited for a plane three years ago, does not prove he is a racist, nor does it require more than an apology in recompense.

Sure, he muttered a stupid and tactless sentence. But did he victimise anyone? No. Harry lacked the malice (or is it bottle?) to use the word to Ahmed's face. The third in line in to the throne knows better than to upset possible future Commonwealth subjects — or risk a smack in his posh mouth.

Made when he was a 21-year-old cadet, the video shows Harry for what he then was — an insecure, awkward young man desperately trying to fit in with his new peers. As well as the race jibe, he made jokes about his grandmother and his "ginger pubes". It only proves that he was willing to embarrass himself in order to gain acceptance and raise a cheap laugh.

I said many offensive things in my youth. But now I expect be given the benefit of the doubt and regarded as a reformed adult. It wouldn't be fair to vilify me for them now, nor is it fair to overblow the charges against Harry. What matters isn't a stupid joke he made as he emerged from his teens but how he now behaves as a man.

So I don't think Harry's racist, but if he wants to know how much Asians dislike being called a Paki, he should try calling me one sometime. I'll be happy to set the little honky straight.

YES, says Liz Hoggard

I've had a soft spot for Prince Harry ever since he placed a white rose on his mother's coffin.

He adores his girlfriend and has done charity work in South Africa and my neighbourhood, Peckham. He's young, he likes a laugh and has been educated in that strange hothouse, the public school — so of course he's going to put his foot in it.

But this thing is bigger than Harry's casual racism. It's about the nature of language itself.
Words have the power to wound. We use them everyday, for fun, in love, to tease colleagues, but each one can become a little Sabatier knife. As Ricky Gervais observes: "I never let my conscience take a day off."

Forget claims that it's political correctness gone mad. We need to be more PC, not less. As the dictionary changes every day to accommodate new words, then surely we can learn when a term is out of date or debased.

As for the argument that British Asians might use "Paki", I believe it's up to the special interest group — who effectively "own" the term — how they wish to use it. If you're gay, you might well prefer to call yourself queer (celebratory) not homosexual (a medical term).

And Harry's language is not as benign as it seems. He is referring to a young man who has enjoyed some of the same privileges as himself, including elite military training at Sandhurst. But by labelling him "Paki", Harry reminds his friend who really holds the whip hand. Ahmed's father is no doubt painfully aware of the treatment meted out to his countrymen by British hands. No wonder he's angry.

The final irony is that Harry is using street argot when he's never been remotely "street". When was he ever in an urban environment with "da youth"? It's like posh white boys boasting about how much they love reggae.

One day, with a level playing field, we won't have to be so scrupulous. But until then, get with the programme, people.