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Mum blasts Duke over weight jibe

26/ 7/2001

A FURIOUS mum has blasted the Duke of Edinburgh for calling her little boy fat during his recent visit to Salford University.

Prince Philip, famous for putting his foot in it, told thirteen-year-old AJ Adams he would need to lose weight if he wanted to fly in rocketeer Steve Bennett's NOVA spaceship.

The mortified mum, Jacqueline Booth, said: "I was a bit angry about the comment. AJ plays rugby for Salford Juniors, he isn't a fat child."

She added: "He was upset by what had been said. It really hurt his feelings because he is a bit concerned about his weight, but I told him it was just puppy fat."

Big-hearted AJ told us: "I didn't feel too good about what Prince Philip said and it did hurt my feelings, but I knew he was only joking and I've made a joke out of it since."

His humour fully recovered, the resilient youngster said: "I don't want to fly in a space rocket anyway, I've got my heart set on becoming an actor."

AJ had his close encounter with the rude Royal while he was taking part in Salford's Young People's University, M5 4WA on Monday.

Life long learning development manager, David Ward, said: "The Duke is well known for his off-the-cuff remarks but the young man has obviously taken them the right way."

During his visit to Salford the Duke opened Academic Enterprise, a partnership between Salford University and the business community.

He stopped at the 'M5 4WA' project, where he met AJ at the Virtual Reality Centre.