Prince of gaffes asks sea cadet if she works in a strip club

Prince Philip was accompanying the Queen on a visit to Wyvern Barracks in Exeter as part of a tour of Devon yesterday when he asked Elizabeth Rendle, 24, what she did for a living.

Miss Rendle, an adult member of the Barnstaple Sea Cadets, said when she told him she worked in a nightclub, he asked if it was a strip club, before joking it was "probably too cold for that anyway".

Ms Rendle, of Barnstaple in Devon, said: "He was asking everyone what they did for a living and when I told him, he asked me if I worked in a strip club."

She went on: "I was quite surprised, but I think he was just trying to lighten the mood. Obviously, I told him I didn't work in a strip club. It was a joke and we were all laughing, which drew everyone else's attention to us."

Ms Rendle added: "I don't think he put his foot in it, it was a joke and I didn't take any offence. I think he was just putting people at their ease."

The royal visit was part of celebrations to mark 150 years of the cadet movement, and army, sea and air cadets performed displays before the Queen unveiled a commemorative plaque.

The Queen was offered the chance to try her hand at rock climbing but she declined, saying that she was wearing the wrong shoes.

Corporal Jess Palfrey, who has been a cadet for four years, was taking part in rock climbing demonstrations on a temporary plastic wall.

She met the Queen, and said: "I asked her if she wanted to climb the wall and she said 'I don't think I have got the right shoes on for that'."