It’s a bit of a hairy one, isn’t it? The papers are bristling with indignation over Prince Philip’s latest so-called ‘gaffe’.

Apparently at a recent Buck House garden party, the Duke of Edinburgh asked a man with a beard what he did for a living. When the man replied that he was a designer the royal consort quipped: “Well, you didn’t design your beard too well, did you?”, before adding: “You really must try better with your beard.” Rude? I suppose so, if you’re particularly easily offended. But a lot would depend upon the tone.

It sounds to me like an inept stab at manly jocularity, not a sneery jibe at someone who couldn’t answer back. Prince Philip is 88, for goodness sake.

What’s the point of growing old if you can’t say what exactly you think? After all, all our own families have elderly relatives who I’ve found have never held back when it comes to airing opinions on clothes, hair, job or the news.

And what’s more rude? Displaying a rather blunt sense of humour or sitting hunched over the internet scrutinising each utterance, no matter how informal, of an OAP?

Philip or his critics? Philip wins this one ... and not just by a whisker.