Russia Today hits back at Prince Charles' Putin-Hitler comparison: 'If anyone knows real Nazis it’s the Royal Family'
The news channel suggested that the Royal Family should 'should take a look at their ties' before Prince Charles meets with Putin next month
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Your support makes all the difference.A Russian news programme has launched a scathing attack on the British Royal Family after Prince Charles compared Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine to those of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War.
The Kremlin-backed Russia Today (RT) suggested that the Royal Family should look at their own Nazi connections before disparaging the Russian leader.
Senior political correspondent Anissa Naouai said: “Russia has asked for an explanation although I'm not sure why because if anyone knows real Nazis it’s the Royal Family.”
The news anchor then proceeded to lead viewers through a somewhat bizarre family tree, highlighting links between the Windsors and Nazi figures.
Ms Naouai began with the wife of Edward VIII - the Queen’s uncle - saying that Wallis Simpson “hung out with Hitler”, before noting that the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister, Sophie, was married to an SS officer.
She then offered up photographs of Prince Harry dressed up as a Nazi while attending a fancy dress party in 2005 – a move that landed him in hot water back in the UK.
Ms Naouai conceded: “The Royal Family should take a look at their ties before Putin and Charles meet in a couple of weeks to commemorate defeating Nazis in World War Two. That could be awkward.”
The English-language news channel has been accused of peddling pro-Russian propaganda. Last month US Secretary of State John Kerry described it as a “propaganda bullhorn” over its coverage of the Ukraine crisis.
Prince Charles faced widespread criticism both at home and abroad after he reportedly said “and now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler” during a visit to Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday.
He made the remark to Marienne Ferguson, a former Polish war refugee who fled the Nazis.
The alleged comments follow Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move that was widely condemned by the West, who declared a referendum on absorbing the Black Sea peninsula illegitimate and illegal.
The Foreign Office said Thursday that one of its senior officials had met Russia's deputy ambassador, Alexander Kramarenko, who had sought an explanation of Charles's remarks.
Mr Kramarenko had earlier told a news conference: “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,” he said.
A spokesperson for Clarence House said it would not comment on private conversations but stressed: “The Prince of Wales would not seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation.”
The Prince is due to meet with President Putin next month to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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