Duke on his knees for TV soaps

SO you still thought the folk at Buck Palace led different lives from the rest of us, despite all those marital scraps. Well, the Duke of Edinburgh dispelled any lingering doubts design industry worthies might have had when he spoke at last week’s Minerva dinner.

“My favourite hate,” said the Chartered Society of Designers patron, “is the video-recorder,” which he pointed out “is for some reason designed to be placed on the floor”. A hilarious user’s guide by HRH conjured up images of the aged royal personage scrabbling about on his knees, not in deference to the sovereign, but in an attempt to commit his favourite soaps to tape.

“It’s very convenient, I’m sure, for Japanese children,” he said. And even after mastering the controls, less agile viewers were “in grave risk of bursting a blood vessel when getting up again”.

Let’s hope ‘er indoors was home that night to tape Coronation Street for hubby.