By IANS,
London : The Pakistan Army captain whom Prince Harry called a “Paki” when they were both soldier-cadets has said the British royal is not racist.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper published Saturday, Ahmed Raza Khan said Prince Harry had personally phoned him to apologise but that he had “no hard feelings”.
“The Prince called me by a nickname which is usually very insulting, but I know he didn’t mean it that way. He phoned me to apologise and I have no hard feelings. We need to close this chapter now.
“When I spoke to Harry he told me he never meant what people may think about the so-called nickname and I believe him.
“We were close friends when we were training and I know he is not a racist. I have no reason to take up the issue again.
“Since he has apologised, I would say, let bygones be bygones.”
Khan, who trained alongside Harry at the Sandhurst military academy from 2005 to 2006, was described by Prince Harry as “our little Paki friend” in a home video made in 2006.
Reported by the News of the World last week, the comments drew strong criticism from a cross section of British society led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Khan told The Sun: “I was never made to feel uncomfortable because of my colour. I made lots of good friends. We all respected each other and that’s what our training was about – to make us good human beings and good officers.
“When I went to Sandhurst I didn’t know I would be training with Prince Harry but when I met him, it was a good feeling. He is a really nice guy.”