Prince Philip death: Elton John claimed late royal once dubbed him ‘a bloody fool’ in awkward exchange

Elton John once claimed that Prince Philip had dubbed him “a bloody fool” and “the bloody idiot” over his choice of vehicle.

In his 2019 memoir, John recalled meeting the late royal in the Seventies, shortly after the singer became the chairman of Watford Football Club.

“We were making polite conversation, when he suddenly changed the subject,” John wrote in Me. “Philip said: ‘You live near Windsor Castle, don’t you? Have you seen the bloody idiot who drives around that area in his ghastly car? It’s bright yellow with a ridiculous stripe on it. Do you know him?’”

Watch: The wonderful life of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

John awkwardly fessed up that the owner of the car was actually him, but clarified that the Duke of Edinburgh “didn’t appear particularly taken aback by this news at all”.

John continued: “In fact, he seemed quite pleased to have found the idiot in question so that he could give him the benefit of his advice.”

Philip allegedly snapped back at John: “What the hell are you thinking? Ridiculous. Makes you look like a bloody fool. Get rid of it.”

John had painted his Aston Martin yellow and put a red and black stripe down its middle, to signify his long-time support for Watford and to mirror the team’s trademark colours.

“I didn’t realise how much attention it had attracted until I was introduced to Prince Philip,” John added.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s death was announced on Friday (9 April), with Buckingham Palace confirming that he had died “peacefully” at Windsor Castle.

The BBC came under fire shortly after the Duke’s death, with the corporation opening up a special complaints line over their wall-to-wall coverage of the news.

The BBC and ITV both cancelled their Friday night schedules to cover Prince Philip’s death, with BBC Four being entirely switched off in favour of a blank screen urging viewers to turn to BBC One for a major news report. Viewing figures for the BBC and ITV dramatically collapsed as a result.

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