Back to his devilish finest, Prince Philip joked with an 83-year-old factory worker about her skill in ‘stripping’.
Demonstrating that he still possesses a twinkle in his eye, the Queen’s 91-year-old husband engaged in a series of double entendres with Audrey Cook, who has dedicated 69 years of service at the Mars factory in Slough, England.
When Mrs. Cook shared that she began working as a 14-year-old in 1944, her role was in the stripping department where the original Mars bars were crafted by hand.
‘Stripping department? That’s Mars bars?’ Philip asked. ‘I assumed it was something else!’
Not discouraged, the factory’s most senior employee replied innocently: ‘It was all done by hand then.’ To which the playful nonagenarian responded: ‘Well, most stripping is done by hand.’
Thankfully, he managed to spend the remainder of the morning visit engaged in conversations that were somewhat less risqué.
The Duke of Edinburgh enjoys playful banter with those who greet him, and last year, he found himself in a bit of trouble when he cast his gaze upon a lovely council worker, Hannah Jackson, 25, during a Jubilee visit.
Turning to the policeman beside her, the elderly royal pointed to her striking red dress adorned with a zipper running lengthwise down the front. ‘I’d get arrested if I unzipped that dress!’ he exclaimed.
His comments were widely interpreted at the time as yet another ‘gaffe’, a label the Duke of Edinburgh has unfortunately become famous for.
Most recently, headlines were made when the Duke remarked to a Filipino nurse that her country must be ‘half empty as you’re all here running the NHS’ during a visit to a hospital in London.
Phillip made his latest remarks while touring the Mars factory in Berkshire, the birthplace of the namesake Mars Bars, Snickers, and other confections, accompanied by the Queen.
As they prepared to leave, the Queen was presented with an astonishing edible carriage – a chocolate, sugar, and 24-carat gold leaf replica of the Irish state coach.
Mars president, Fiona Dawson, informed the monarch: ‘It’s the first time we’ve incorporated gold leaf in one of our products. I hope it doesn’t become a trend, or it might get costly to produce.’
The Queen seemed delighted with her present, which also included an edible painting of Windsor Castle framed in gold, complete with two M&Ms dressed as guardsmen standing proudly in chocolate sentry boxes, complete with bearskins, protecting the back of the artwork.
As she leaned in for a closer inspection, the monarch remarked: ‘Yes, very clever, it’s quite detailed, isn’t it?’
She pointed out the 7lb chocolate carriage, which required two weeks to create and is expected to last about a month (although it is unlikely to remain uneaten that long) to Philip, who then asked Miss Dawson: ‘Do you anticipate it will be eaten or kept?’
by Robbo Green
