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| Prince Charles Passes Comment on Putin, and a Nation Is Aghast | Prince Charles Passes Comment on Putin, and a Nation Is Aghast |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| LONDON — The poor man may eventually become king of England, but even at 65, every time he opens his mouth, even to utter banalities in private, he seems to get into trouble with the British press. | LONDON — The poor man may eventually become king of England, but even at 65, every time he opens his mouth, even to utter banalities in private, he seems to get into trouble with the British press. |
| Charles, Prince of Wales, has been dutifully in waiting his entire life to take up a job at an age at which many people have retired. He has traveled the world, smiled through bizarre ceremonies on distant islands, brought up two sons and even managed to find some peace with a longstanding love in a second marriage. | Charles, Prince of Wales, has been dutifully in waiting his entire life to take up a job at an age at which many people have retired. He has traveled the world, smiled through bizarre ceremonies on distant islands, brought up two sons and even managed to find some peace with a longstanding love in a second marriage. |
| But let him say a few words of commonplace opinion in private to a woman in Canada about current events — a woman who cannot even remember exactly what he said — and all of Britain pretends to be agog. | But let him say a few words of commonplace opinion in private to a woman in Canada about current events — a woman who cannot even remember exactly what he said — and all of Britain pretends to be agog. |
| During a royal tour of Canada, at an immigration museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the prince spoke on Monday to Marienne Ferguson, 78, the Jewish daughter of Polish parents who fled the Nazis and lost relatives during the Holocaust. She told a British tabloid, The Daily Mail, that she had spoken to the prince about her family and why she ended up in Canada. | During a royal tour of Canada, at an immigration museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the prince spoke on Monday to Marienne Ferguson, 78, the Jewish daughter of Polish parents who fled the Nazis and lost relatives during the Holocaust. She told a British tabloid, The Daily Mail, that she had spoken to the prince about her family and why she ended up in Canada. |
| According to the BBC, he responded “something to the effect of, ‘It is not unlike what is now happening in Russia, what Putin is doing,' ” she said, although she could not “exactly remember” the phrase he had used in referring to the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. | |
| According to The Mail, however, she said flatly: “The prince then said, ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler.' ” She then said, according to The Mail, “I was very surprised that he made the comment, as I know they aren’t meant to say these things, but it was very heartfelt and honest.” | |
| Reports of Charles’s remarks touched off a demand for an explanation from the Russian embassy in London and a predictable round of complaints from politicians critical of royalty. A Labour Party member of Parliament, Mike Gapes, called for Charles to abdicate, while the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, Nigel Farage, pushing for a big vote in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, told The Guardian, “There are times when it might be better for Prince Charles not to get involved in things like this.” | |
| Mr. Gapes said the prince should have kept his views private — which was odd, since whatever Charles did say, it was certainly said in private. The British press, including the left-leaning Guardian, gleefully quoted Russian newspapers like Moskovsky Komsomolets, which said Charles’s remarks risked “triggering an international scandal,” which is highly unlikely. The Daily Mirror called the prince’s remarks “extraordinary” and said he had “sensationally compared” Mr. Putin to Hitler. | Mr. Gapes said the prince should have kept his views private — which was odd, since whatever Charles did say, it was certainly said in private. The British press, including the left-leaning Guardian, gleefully quoted Russian newspapers like Moskovsky Komsomolets, which said Charles’s remarks risked “triggering an international scandal,” which is highly unlikely. The Daily Mirror called the prince’s remarks “extraordinary” and said he had “sensationally compared” Mr. Putin to Hitler. |
| A spokesman for the prince said in a statement: “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.” | A spokesman for the prince said in a statement: “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.” |
| The royals are traditionally expected to keep their political opinions to themselves, to avoid conflict with the elected government of the day. But Charles has sometimes evinced strong views on the environment and the aesthetics of modern architecture, and has written memos to ministers on various topics. He is regularly mocked in the British press for his dress, his emotional life and his supposed habit of talking to plants. Still, his views on protecting the environment are more widely accepted today than they were 30 years ago, and some even consider him to have been prescient on the topic. | The royals are traditionally expected to keep their political opinions to themselves, to avoid conflict with the elected government of the day. But Charles has sometimes evinced strong views on the environment and the aesthetics of modern architecture, and has written memos to ministers on various topics. He is regularly mocked in the British press for his dress, his emotional life and his supposed habit of talking to plants. Still, his views on protecting the environment are more widely accepted today than they were 30 years ago, and some even consider him to have been prescient on the topic. |
| As his mother, who is 88, reduces her workload with age, the prince has taken on further duties and the press has warmed to him somewhat, in part because it has gone gaga over his grandson, Prince George. | As his mother, who is 88, reduces her workload with age, the prince has taken on further duties and the press has warmed to him somewhat, in part because it has gone gaga over his grandson, Prince George. |
| Others have made similar comments comparing Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which once belonged to Ukraine, to Germany’s annexation of Austria, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said, “If this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did in the ‘30s.” | |
| Britain’s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, defended the prince. “I have never been of the view that if you are a member of the royal family somehow you have to enter into some sort of Trappist vow of silence,” Mr. Clegg told the BBC. “I think he is entitled to his views.” | Britain’s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, defended the prince. “I have never been of the view that if you are a member of the royal family somehow you have to enter into some sort of Trappist vow of silence,” Mr. Clegg told the BBC. “I think he is entitled to his views.” |
| Charles is expected to meet Mr. Putin early next month at D-Day commemorations in France. | Charles is expected to meet Mr. Putin early next month at D-Day commemorations in France. |