Have I Got News For You has been criticised after describing the Queen and her husband as 'that Greek twit and his Kraut wife'.
Fifty people complained about the joke, made by host Miranda Hart (pictured) on last Friday's show and repeated this Monday.
The gag came after panellists discussed the Greek-born Duke of Edinburgh's latest supposed gaffe when - at a Buckingham Palace event in honour of Indian president Pratibha Patil - he told businessman Atul Patel: 'There's a lot of your family here tonight.'
Hart joked: 'There is no place for racism in the modern world and the sooner that Greek twit and his Kraut wife realise it, the better.'
One viewer on the BBC's Points of View message board said: 'I am very disapproving when the participants make derogatory personal remarks about public figures. Some of these verge on hateful racial prejudice for instance Miranda Hart referred to the Queen as a "kraut".'
The Daily Mail - itself the recent subject of more than 22,000 complaints about Jan Moir's column in the aftermath of Stephen Gately's death - said the BBC stood accused of 'double standards' over the gag.
Last week Andrew Neil appeared to compare MP Diane Abbott to a chocolate HobNob biscuit during BBC political programme This Week.
The episode was pulled from the iPlayer after the corporation received 15 complaints that the comment was racist.
A BBC spokesman said: 'Have I Got News For You is a topical, satirical news quiz and as such tackles issues of the week in a comedic and challenging way.
'The joke Miranda delivered was about abusive racist language following on from the news story that Prince Philip had made what were considered offensive remarks at a meeting of Indian representatives.'
Copyright : Comedy Central UK