BBC fires presenter over racist royal baby chimp tweet

Veteran British broadcaster Danny Baker was fired on Thursday by the BBC after using a racist picture of a chimpanzee holding hands of a couple in a tweet, tagged with the caption "royal baby leaves hospital".

Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, gave birth on Monday to a baby boy, Archie, the first mixed race child to be born into a senior position in British royalty in recent history.

The now deleted tweet, which has been circulated on social media, showed a black and white picture of a well-dressed couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes with the caption: "Royal Baby leaves hospital".

The 61-year-old presenter was accused of mocking the Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage.

A BBC spokesperson said: "This was a serious error of judgment."
"Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that's it."
Earlier, Baker told his half a million followers on Twitter that he has been doorstepped by reporters at his home, saying he was asked: "Do you think black people look like monkeys?"
His tweet added: "No mate. Gag pic. Posh baby chimp. Alerted to circs. Appalled. Deleted. Apologised."