Prince Charles Compares Putin To Hitler, Russia Demands Apology
Prince Charles appears to have created a diplomatic incident with comments he made comparing Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, and now the Russian President is demanding an apology from the future king of England.
On Thursday, a senior official at the British Foreign Office met with a Russian Ambassador and brushed of Prince Charles’ remarks, saying, “the Foreign Office could not be expected to comment upon reports of private conversations”.
Prince Charles made the controversial remarks while visiting a museum in Halifax, Canada, allegedly comparing the attempt by Putin to annex Crimea saying:
“And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler.”
Following the statement by Prince Charles, Russian diplomats complained that the remarks were “outrageous” and “low.”
The Brits seemed to be trying to play down the incident considering the lower ranking official that was sent to deal with the peeved Russian deputy ambassador, Alexander Kramarenko, who called Prince Charles’ comments “unacceptable.”
Russia asked for clarification on exactly what Prince Charles meant by his comments, but the Foreign Office used to opportunity to express Great Britain’s wishes that the Kremlin will not interfere ahead of this weekend’s presidential elections in Ukraine.
Prince Charles was reportedly talking to Jewish survivor of World War II, Marianne Ferguson — who is a volunteer at the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax — about the crisis in Ukraine.
According to The Guardian, Moscow’s foreign ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said:
“If these words were truly spoken, then without doubt, they do not reflect well on the future British monarch. We view the use of the western press by members of the British royal family to spread the propaganda campaign against Russia on a pressing issue –that is, the situation in Ukraine – as unacceptable, outrageous and low.”
Prince Charles is known by his subjects to put his foot in his mouth from time to time, and some sarcastic tweets are already showing up about the off camera comments:
“99% of the time, [Prince Charles] gets it wrong… I meant right,” says @KirstieMAllsopp #bbcqt
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) May 22, 2014
An apology from Prince Charles: “What I should have said is that this Putin chap can be a bit Hitlery at times.” ? http://t.co/KKwvD10Oos
— Jeff Faria (@PatriotsOfMars) May 23, 2014
Prince Charles is in good company when it comes to comparing Putin to Hitler. Former Secretary of State and potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said:
“Now if this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did back in the 30s…. Hitler kept saying [German citizens abroad were] not being treated right. I must go and protect my people and that’s what’s gotten everybody so nervous.”
Do you think Prince Charles should apologize to Putin for comparing him to Hitler?
[Image via Youtube]
