Prince Philip Cracks Filipino Nurse Joke

• Tweet
• Pin It

The Duke of Edinburgh told a Filipino nurse her country must be “half empty”, because so many of her compatriots have come to the UK to work for the NHS.

He made the remark during a visit to Luton and Dunstable Hospital where he unveiled a £5.5m cardiac centre.

“The Philippines must be half empty – you’re all here running the NHS,” the prince told the nurse, who laughed.

A spokesperson for the hospital said the visit of the duke had been “hugely motivational”.

The 91-year-old royal, who called himself “the world’s most experienced curtain puller”, was said to be in a “jovial” mood during the visit and asked when the hospital would get a helipad to save him a journey by car.

Photo credit: BBC

‘Cosmopolitan town’
The hospital spokesperson would not comment on the duke’s conversation with the nurse but said the hospital had not held a recent recruiting campaign in the Philippines, which had a population of 94.8 million in 2011.

“Luton is a very cosmopolitan town and the working staff at Luton and Dunstable Hospital reflects that,” the spokesperson said.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council said there were about 670,000 nurses in the UK, but it could not say how many came from the Philippines.

Continue reading at BBC