The Prince of Wales has been warned by one of his senior advisers that he must act urgently to separate his sons from a "social scene that thinks racism and bigotry quite funny", The Independent has reported.

Politicians and religious groups on Sunday condemned Prince Harry of Britain for calling a Pakistani Army soldier a "Paki" in video footage published by the newspaper on its Web site.

The 24-year-old prince was forced to apologize, saying there was no racist malice intended by the comments made in a 2006 video which was procured by The News of the World.

The leader of the opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron, said the comments were a "completely unacceptable thing to say and it is right that he has apologized."

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, echoed Cameron's remarks, but said a line should be drawn under the incident.

"He shouldn't have used those words, it will have caused considerable offence and has obviously caused him a considerable amount of embarrassment," Clegg told Sky television.

The word "Paki" is derogatory slang for an immigrant or descendant of an immigrant from Pakistan.

The prime minister's office declined to comment, but Innovation Secretary John Denham told Sky television that such language was no longer acceptable.

"This sort of language can be seen as offensive, is offensive, is gradually going out of use in our society, and he's apologized for it," he said.

The recording was made a year after Harry was criticized for wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party, a gaffe that sparked an international outcry.

In some of the footage, Harry - grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and third in line to the British throne - is behind the camera and can he heard making a mock commentary.

"Anyone else here. Ah, our little Paki friend, Ahmed," Harry says as he zooms onto the face of an Asian officer cadet while waiting at an airport to fly to Cyprus.

Harry was also shown telling another officer cadet wearing a camouflage veil during night training in Cyprus, "You look like a raghead" - an offensive term for an Arab.

Muhammad Shafiq, director of the Ramadhan Foundation, said the prince's remarks were racist.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened at Prince Harry's racism which upsets and offends many British Asians," he said. "The use of this sort of racism has no justification and I am saddened by those that are advocating using this term is not racist."

But a spokesman for Harry said the prince understood how offensive his language toward his comrade was.

"However, on this occasion three years ago, Prince Harry used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon," the spokesman said.

The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella group for British Muslim organizations, said Harry's language was unacceptable and had harmed the image of the army, which has been trying to recruit more widely from minorities.

But a council spokesman, Inayat Bunglawala, said that Harry had done the right thing by apologizing.

"In the big scheme of things, there are more important issues that we should be discussing, not least the carnage in Gaza," he said.//01.11.09