Police investigate Danny Baker's 'racist' royal baby tweet

Police are investigating Danny Baker's tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's baby, which resulted in the radio presenter being sacked by the BBC.

The broadcaster was accused of racism when he posted a black and white photo of a man and woman holding hands with a suited chimpanzee after Meghan gave birth.

In the caption, Baker, 61, wrote: "Royal baby leaves hospital."

He later deleted the tweet, admitting it was "ridiculous, stupid and idiotic", but insisted he was not racist.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman told Sky News: "An allegation has been received by the Metropolitan Police Service on Thursday, 9 May in relation to a tweet published on the 8 May.

"As is routine, the allegation will be reviewed and assessed by specialist officers."

A day after being fired from his role on BBC Radio Five Live, Baker posted a series of messages on Twitter on Friday apologising for the "outrage" he had caused.

He described the controversy as "one of the worst days of my life" and said he made a "genuine, naive and catastrophic mistake".

"The picture in context as presented was obviously shamefully racist. It was never intended so - seriously who on earth would 'go there'?", Baker wrote.

Baker revealed he had been sacked on Thursday and criticised the BBC's handling of the situation.

He said the phone call telling him he was fired was a "masterclass of pompous faux-gravity" and the corporation "literally threw me under the bus".

In a statement announcing Baker had been fired, a BBC spokesman said: "This was a serious error of judgement and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody.

"Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us."

Broadcaster Afua Hirsch criticised Baker's initial response to the controversy after he claimed he had not seen the problem with the tweet because his mind was "not diseased".

She said: "So not only does Danny Baker post an image comparing a baby [with] African heritage to an ape, but he has the audacity to say the problem is that those of us who point out how racist it is have 'diseased minds'.

"Classic example of blaming those of us who call out racism for its existence."

However comedian Dara O'Briain said he was "amazed" Baker had been fired, saying the presenter had "immediately apologised and deleted the tweet".

"I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that," O'Briain wrote on Twitter.

Prince Harry and Meghan, whose mother is African American, revealed on Wednesday that they have named their new arrival Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.