Royal Blew

By Harriet Barovick, James Colburn, Autumn De Leon, Michelle Derrow, Daniel S. Levy, Lina Lofaro, Andrew Meier, Anne Moffett and Desa Philadelphia

DUKE OF SLUR It took Buckingham Palace less than three hours to issue an apology after the Duke of Edinburgh, touring an electronics company, said a fuse box looked like it was "put in by an Indian." The palace has had practice. Some of the Duke's bons mots:

--To a student who was in Papua New Guinea last year: "You didn't manage to get eaten then?"

--In 1995, to a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"

--In 1993, in Hungary: "You can't have been here that long; you haven't got a potbelly."

--In 1986, to students in China: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed."