Jeremy Vine accused of ‘race baiting’ after noting all Prince Philip’s funeral guests will be white

Jeremy Vine has been blasted for turning Prince Philip‘s funeral into a ‘race issue’ by pointing out that all the guests are white.

The Channel 5 TV host, 55, asked a guest on his show whether she thought it was a ‘problem’ that all 30 attendees would be white at the Windsor Castle service which will be held on Saturday afternoon.

Footage of the exchange has been shared widely on social media, with some people accusing Vine of ‘race baiting’. 

It follows more than 100,000 complaints being made to the BBC about its amount of coverage on the Duke’s death, with another 433 complaints after Andrew Marr compared him to an ‘Indian bride’, for which he has since apologised.

Jeremy Vine has been blasted for turning Prince Philip ‘s funeral into a ‘race issue’ by pointing out that all the guests are white 

It follows more than 100,000 complaints being made to the BBC about its amount of coverage on the Duke’s death, with another 433 complaints after Andrew Marr compared him to an ‘Indian bride’, for which he has since apologised

In the clip, Vine says: ‘We are going to see a group of 30 people who are going to be at this very restricted funeral, and I’m imagining it will be 30 people who are white. 

‘I’m just trying to think whether there’s anybody of colour in there and I don’t think so. Do you think that’s a problem?’ 

Social media users reacted to the interview, with one saying: ‘I am genuinely staggered at this statement from Jeremy Vine. It’s pure race baiting.’

Another wrote: ‘Jeremy Vine is cancelled’.

A third added: ‘What a ghastly thing to say’.

And a fourth posted: ‘It’s not a problem but let’s ask the question anyway so that we can try to turn it into one. How is this not simply race baiting?’

It comes after the BBC complaints team responded to one viewer: ‘Thank you for contacting us about a comment Andrew Marr made during our recent news coverage.

‘When reflecting on the life of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Andrew Marr gave his analysis of Prince Philip’s role within the monarchy and relationship with the Queen.

Jeremy Vine, 55, asked a guest on his show whether she thought it was a ‘problem’ that all 30 attendees would be white at Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday

It follows 433 complaints being made after Andrew Marr (pictured above) compared Prince Philip to an ‘Indian bride’, for which he has since apologised

‘While doing this, Andrew made a remark which he accepts was poorly phrased, for which he apologises. We have shared your feedback with senior editors at BBC News.’ 

As of lunchtime today, the corporation had received 109,741 complaints – the most in television history – relating to the amount of coverage on Prince Philip.

Following the Duke’s death at Windsor Castle aged 99, the BBC wiped its schedules across both BBC One and BBC Two to run a series of mirrored special programmes about Philip.

Viewers tuning into BBC Four were greeted with a message urging them to switch over for a ‘major news report’, while BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live also aired programmes about the Duke.

Following the Duke’s death at Windsor Castle aged 99, the BBC wiped its schedules across both BBC One and BBC Two to run a series of mirrored special programmes about Philip

The rolling news coverage meant the final of MasterChef, which was due to air at 8.30pm on BBC One, was not shown.

The BBC later established the dedicated form on its website after receiving complaints about its coverage.

Many viewers expressing their disappointment over the cancelling of programmes – and the broadcaster set up a dedicated webpage for viewers to lodge their dissatisfaction.

In a statement, the BBC said: ‘The passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a significant event which generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally…. We do not make such [schedule] changes without careful consideration and the decisions made reflect the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster, during moments of national significance.’