London, Oct 27 (IANS) Britain’s Prince Philip joked with British-Indian business leader Atul Patel about his name during a reception at Buckingham Palace, a media report said.
As guests lined up to meet the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, the 88-year-old royal turned to greet business chief Atul Patel.

After glancing at Patel’s name badge, the Sun quoted him as saying: “There’s a lot of your family in tonight.”

The comment appeared to jokingly suggest that all Patels are related.

Atul Patel, 47, is chief executive of the LHA-Asra group, one of Britain’s leading housing associations.

The surname, which originates from the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, is the second most popular after Singh. It is also Britain’s 24th most common, with an estimated 670,000 Patels living here, the Sun report said.

Graham Smith, spokesman for Republic, a campaign group committed to abolishing the monarchy, criticised Prince Philip’s remark.

“Making a joke about people called Patel is deeply embarrassing given the timing of the Indian state visit.

“At best it’s a comment that shows he’s out of touch and out of date. There are a large number of Patels living in Britain and many will find it offensive that Prince Philip tries to joke that they’re all related,” Smith was quoted as saying.

A spokesperson for Patel Monday night confirmed the exchange - but insisted he took it as a joke.

“Absolutely no offence was taken at all by Atul. It was taken in a very light-hearted way,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Indian President Pratibha Patil arrived in London Monday night for the official state visit to Britain.

Royal author Phil Dampier, who co-wrote “Duke of Hazard, The Wit and Wisdom of Prince Philip”, Monday night said: “This is a vintage Prince Philip gaffe, but I’m sure he didn’t mean any offence.

“He’s been putting his foot in it like this for years,” Dampier was quoted as saying.