The Prince and the Putin

I can't believe that such a non-story is hitting the headlines - the silly season must almost be upon us.  In a private conversation, Prince Charles compares the actions of Vladimir Putin in Crimea to Hitler's actions in annexing Gdansk (Danzig).  Big woop.  It is entirely accurate.  He's hardly set the cat among the pigeons.  No, what has thrown the feline into the flock is an unholy alliance between the Daily Wail, left-wing republicans, UKIP and the Kremlin - could there be a more fiendish array?
Ol' Chuck was on a Canadian tour and on his itinerary was a visit to a Holocaust Memorial museum.  The woman showing him around was born in Gdansk and narrowly escaped the clutches of the Nazis when they invaded on 1st September 1939 (the Danzig legislature already dominated by a Nazi surrogate party).  Unguarded because he thought no-one would hear him or even report it, Charles said Putin was doing much the same now, to which his co-conversant assented vigorously then and later, when this blew up.  Unbeknownst to both of them a Daily Wail reporter was eavesdropping on this private conversation (as a former spy, something Vladimir Putin knows all about) and relayed this information to London.  How a representative of the Wail was even permitted entrance to a Holocaust museum is baffling given the publication's history of anti-semitism.
The Wail professes itself a supporter of the monarchy but it is so unctuous in this that it can slip out of support easily (having next to no morals is also a bonus in their line of work).  Republicans from the Labour left kicked up a fuss - anything to do down the monarchy - even to the ridiculous level of saying this might fan tensions in the Crimea.  Whatever.  Avid Putinophile Nigel Farage criticised Charles for his choice of words (he's a fine one to talk).  A lazy Guardian editorial attacked Charles and the Kremlin finally picked up the baton and accused the heir to the throne - hilariously - of using the media to spread propaganda.
It seems that someone is believing their own propaganda but that's what happens when you just have ignorance to go on.  Just because the Russian press is overwhelmingly controlled by the Kremlin, doesn't follow that everywhere is identical, certainly not the UK which has a free press which is not in the slightest bit controlled from Buckingham Palace of Clarence House.
To the British pygmies - get a life.  Charles is allowed to express himself in private if he wants to - he wasn't standing on a stage proclaiming it with a megaphone.  The Guardian is as anti-monarchy as the Wail is anti-BBC - both show a cringeworthy lack of self-awareness when on their hobby horses.  The Wail is scum anyway.  Farage has identified Putin as the man he admires most and often appears on Kremlin mouthpiece Russia Today.  With republicans, the very fact of Charles makes him anathema - no matter what he does he can never win.  The German president made some strident comments in public about homophobia in Russia as the reason for his non-attendance at the Sochi Winter Olympics (both comments and event virtually forgotten now).  So an elected non-entity can be controversial but a hereditary non-entity must purge himself of all reasoned and interesting thought - they deny Charles his humanity as they forget their own.  Hillary Clinton compared Putin's action to annexing the Sudetenland - she might be president one day with Vlad still haunting Moscow.  No-one upbraided her.  Maybe among the left-wing there is still affinity for the Bear to the East - in the words of Fred Kite from the Peter Sellers film I'm Alright, Jack, "Ahhh, Russia. All them corn fields and ballet in the evening."
I'm no royalist flag-waver.  Our 'first family' can be guilty of some very silly things (Andrew in particular) and that's when they are not being crashing bores.  That's why what Charles has said - if I haven't made myself clear, in private - is so warming and if Putin is offended by it, then he can suck it up or reverse his annexation of Crimea.  It is exactly the same as when Charles compared the Communist leadership in China to 'appalling old waxworks' in 1997 - this was in a private journal which the contemptible Wail on Sunday 'acquired' ('stole' would be more appropriate) and published - the Wail group really are first-class hypocritical wretches (let's not forget they invade private wakes for juicy quotes about the deceased).  Anyone who works for them must have a humanity bypass.  What can Charles do if he can't even express himself in private - it's like 1984 for him.  He is nowhere near offensive as his Pa and that's probably why his opponents see Charles as weak, for they are also highly offensive.  I think most people, in full knowledge of the facts, would be on Charles' side.  The monarchy isn't going to be disbanded anytime soon.