British comedian Danny Baker apologises for 'racist' tweet about Baby Archie

Danny Baker attends the National Television Awards in 2017. Photo / Getty

British comedy writer and radio DJ Danny Baker has apologised after tweeting a "racist" photo after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle introduced their newborn son Archie to the world.

Baker shared a post to his 501,000 followers that showed a couple holding on to a chimpanzee dressed in a suit, with the text "Royal baby leaves hospital".

Baker quickly deleted the tweet. Photo / Supplied

He later apologised, saying: "Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased."

The radio veteran insisted there had been no racist intent, telling a Twitter follower that the "connection never occurred" to him.

The response on Twitter was swift, with some calling for the broadcaster to be axed:

Imagine thinking that tweeting this would end well in 2019. Guess that's Danny Baker cancelled, then... pic.twitter.com/GvkBTGdFVP

— Shiftz (@ShiftzTrapstyle) May 8, 2019

Others questioned the relative intelligence of Baker and the chimp pictured:

Casual racism is alive & well.

‘Celebrity’ Danny Baker depicts the royal baby Sussex as a monkey. Excellent. We’ve come so far.

It’s fair to say the monkey in the photo is a lot smarter than Danny Baker, and a lot better looking, too. pic.twitter.com/t6OFFR5wxW

— Alan Mehdizadeh (@alanmehdizadeh) May 8, 2019

Baker's apology all fell short for many users, who accused him of shifting the blame:

So not only does Danny Baker post an image comparing a baby w African heritage to an ape, but he has the audacity to say problem is that those of us who point out how racist it is have “diseased minds”. Classic example of blaming those of us who call out racism for its existence pic.twitter.com/6gtKMpaHZY

— Afua Hirsch (@afuahirsch) May 8, 2019

Markle has proudly embraced her biracial heritage in the past: "I'm half black and half white ... While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that.

"To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman."