Duke Of Edinburgh Gaffes Again As He Asks East End Community Group: ‘Who Do You Sponge Off?’

The Duke of Edinburgh made one of his classic gaffes today when he asked a a group of women at a community centre: “Who do you sponge off?”

Prince Phillip was visiting the Chadwell Heath Community Centre during the Queen’s tour of Barking and Dagenham.

His comment, that an aide later said was actually a joke about sponge cake, was laughed off by the centre’s trustee, Nusrat Zamir.

She said: “The Duke said to us ‘who do you sponge off?’

“We’re all married so it’s our husbands.

"He was just teasing and it’s similar to what I call my husband - the wallet.”

Mrs Zamir founded the Chadwell Heath Asian Women’s Network which meets at the centre and presented the Queen with a large sponge cake.

She added: “He also said to us 'do you meet to have a gossip?’

"It’s a familiar question, a lot of people say what the Duke said but we do a lot of work.

“When we organised a fair in March that took a lot of organising and time.”

A royal aide said later that Philip’s remark was not meant to offend.

The aide said: “There’s a context here, they were talking about a sponge cake, no offence was intended or taken.

"The whole visit took place in a wonderful atmosphere.”

Philip chatted freely with the guests invited to the centre which is run by local volunteers, supported by the local authority and opened in September.

It provides a library and hosts a range of services from exercise activities, literacy lessons for children and mother and child classes.

When Philip chatted to Martin Shaw, he poked fun at his job.

The guest said: "I told Philip I’m a professional fundraiser and he said 'do you have any friends left?’ I said 'not many’.”

Phillip also jokingly told off the centre’s chair, Anne Estlea, from using the word ‘community’.

She said: “The Duke told me off for using the word community so many times, so I asked him what I was supposed to say and he just laughed at me.

"And as they left and I was shaking his hand I told him I was going to find a thesaurus to find a different word for community and he just laughed.”

Last week Philip looked annoyed as he appeared to swear at an RAF photographer during a photocall with Battle of Britain veterans.