Veteran Channel 5 presenter, Jeremy Vine, sat stunned as an irate caller referred to Prince Harry’s wife Meghan with a racial slur that was allowed to air by the producers. The anchor had hosted a discussion on the couple’s decision to abandon royal life and, with the help of their own private millions, provide for themselves on their own, moving to Canada.
A caller from the West Midlands, reached the show to share his opinion that Prince Harry and Meghan should be able to earn money if they want to but, during the call, let the curse words slip out.
“He [Harry] should be able to choose if he wants to live that life from the royal family", the caller said, cited by The Sun, before making the uncensored remark: "obviously he married... and that f***ing b***h".
The host, in spite of the multi-second delay required on all phone-in radio programmes to avoid the network being fined by government censors after the fact - appeared to mishear the slur, and, astonishingly, asked the caller to repeat the phrase. A voice was then heard saying to Vine that what he was asking to hear again was "the f-word".
"Go now. Really sorry for that, we do everything we can to avoid bad language on the programme. I know it offends some viewers and it's rude to everyone when a caller can't control their language", he said, after shaking his head in disappointment.
The gaffe came hot on the heels of Harry and Meghan’s first public appearance following Megxit, as the runaway prince and his American bride spoke at a summit in the US state of Florida.
It is not known what penalties the network or production staff will incur in allowing the obscene language to slip through and onto the airwaves.