The Prince of Wales apparently likened the actions of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler while on a tour of Canada, one woman claims.
It’s not the first time a member of the royal family has said something which has raised eyebrows, but it could prove to be one of the more controversial.
Prince Charles apparently compared Russian actions in Ukraine to those of Hitler in a private conversation with a woman who fled the Nazis and who lost family members during the Holocaust. He was speaking while on a tour of Canada this week.
Marienne Ferguson, a 78-year-old museum volunteer, told the prince she fled to Canada with her family just before the Nazis annexed the Baltic coastal Free City of Gdansk in 1939.
“The prince said: ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler,'” she said.
The prince said: ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler.’ Marienne Ferguson
“I must say that I agree with him and I am sure a lot of people do. But I was very surprised that he made the comment as I know they (members of the royal family) aren’t meant to say these things.”
In an interview with Channel 4 News, British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to comment on someone’s “private conversation” (see below).
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “We do not comment on private conversations. But we would like to stress that the Prince of Wales would not seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation.”
Charles is due to meet Mr Putin in a few weeks when he attends the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June. He and the Duchess are currently on a four-day tour of Canada.
The prince isn’t the first global figure to make the comparison: Hillary Clinton did similar in March when Russia began issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens.
“Now if this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did back in the 30s,” she said.
It’s also not the prince’s first foray into world affairs. He’s been there before, famously wading into rows on architecture and climate change, and in March the government blocked the publication of some of his letters to government departments regarding official policies.
He was also caught out in another conversation he believed was private back in 2005, when at a photo shoot with sons Harry and William he was caught muttering about the BBC’s Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell: “These bloody people. I can’t bear that man. I mean, he’s so awful, he really is.”