Harry puts race and youth in the spotlight

Apologies were urgently issued, it was said that the colleague was a friend of the Prince, various "nicknames" were routinely used in the army and there was no malice intended. Nonetheless, the episode provided the opportunity for a tornado of comment and judgement. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said immediately that it would investigate the circumstances to see if there were grounds for further action. Others pronounced the behaviour as completely unacceptable, which would be the first reaction of most people other than self-declared racists.

And yet - can there be any notion of "and yet"? The Prince's mitigation plea rests in the context of his remarks. His greater culpability lies in the context of his position, especially given past misdemeanours from a similar starting point - jocular fancy dress or banter is not so funny when placed in its historical context. Even that needs to be put in the further context of youthful boundary testing and, though it jars with some, I remind people once again that HRH is just a young man.