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The BBC has defended a controversial joke about Prince Harry which suggested the young royal had snorted cocaine.

Comedian Jo Brand made the quip on BBC1 quiz show Have I Got News for You on Friday night as panellists discussed the christening of Prince George.

The 56-year-old stand up star said: ‘George’s godparents include Hugh van Cutsem – I presume that’s a nickname as in Hugh van cuts ’em and Harry then snorts ’em.’

Comedian Paul Merton was seen gaping at the guest presenter, while a stunned Ian Hislop balked and asked: ‘Have we lost the lawyers?’

The corporation is now under fire for allowing the joke to be left in after the pre-recorded show was edited. Last night it insisted the remark was ‘tongue in cheek’.

Critics have also attacked the programme for mistakenly naming Hugh van Cutsem, rather than William van Cutsem, as Prince George’s godfather. Hugh, a longtime friend of Prince Charles from Cambridge University, died last month.

Although Miss Brand did not write the joke, she has announced she will not apologise for the comment, which she read from an autocue.

The presenter, a member of anti-monarchist group Republic, said: ‘I didn’t write it. I read it out from the autocue. I thought it was funny. I don’t really understand what the fuss is about.

‘I am not going to apologise. I didn’t write it but I did say it so I am culpable in some way.’

Prince Harry, 29, a captain with the Army Air Corps who has served on two tours to Afghanistan, has previously confessed to smoking cannabis when he was a teenager. However, he has never been accused of taking cocaine or any other class A drugs.

Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt told a Sunday newspaper: ‘It might have been said as a joke but the suggestion is outrageous. It is a very unfortunate joke to make and most inappropriate.’

Tory defence minister Anna Soubry added: ‘That is disgraceful, shoddy, appalling and out of order. Prince Harry does an outstanding job in the Army and always goes the extra mile to help wounded service personnel and veterans.

‘Jo Brand should not have stooped to that level and both she and the BBC should apologise. It is a really cheap shot at somebody who has no right of reply and they know will not sue for libel.’

A Clarence House spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘We wouldn’t comment on something like that.’

However, the BBC said in a statement: ‘Have I Got News For You is a satirical news quiz and the audience is used to the often irreverent humour. This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek comment.’

It is the latest in a series of blunders by the BBC over their coverage of Prince George’s christening.

Jeremy Paxman forgot Kate Middleton’s title as he announced her return to public life on Newsnight last week, while BBC News was also criticised for treating the occasion as a ‘tail-end afterthought’ on its six o’clock and ten o’clock bulletins.

BBC2’s current affairs show Newsnight failed to mention it at all.