A spokesperson from the office of the Prince of Wales has declined to comment on a private conversation with a Halifax woman, in which he reportedly drew a parallel between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler.
The spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that it is not the policy of Clarence House to comment on a private conversation Prince Charles may have had. The spokesperson stressed, however, that the Prince of Wales wouldn't seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation.
The communications director for the Prime Minister's Office also declined to comment.
"I understand this was a private conversation, which we were not privy to. As a result we're not in a position to comment on the remarks," Jason MacDonald told CTV News in an email.
"That said, we have been clear that the Putin regime's illegal occupation of Ukraine and its persistent military aggression are a return to Soviet style tactics and cannot be tolerated."
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the Duke of Cornwall made the remark to a volunteer Monday, during a tour of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax.
During his time at the museum, Prince Charles was introduced to volunteer Marienne Ferguson, who lost family in the Holocaust. Ferguson and her family fled Europe for Canada when she was just a teen.
After telling the prince her story of survival, Charles said, according to Ferguson, "And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler."
Ferguson later told the BBC that it was just a "little remark" and she didn't think it would cause an uproar.
Divisions between Putin and western nations have been growing since Russia's annexation of Crimea several months ago.
The Prince's comments are causing controversy in the U.K., where there is a belief among some that the Royal Family should be "seen and not heard," CTV News' Ben O'Hara-Byrne reported from London.
"The Queen, of course, has been remarkably consistent at that. She never speaks about political issues in public," O'Hara-Byrne said. "She presumably has opinions on these sorts of matters, but she's not heard to say them."
Prince Charles, on the other hand, has voiced his opinions on a number of issues in the past, including architecture, the environment and conservation, he said.
Cian Horrobin of the Monarchist League of Canada said the Prince has been able to express his opinions more freely because he’s not the constitutional monarch and therefore not governed by the same rules as the Queen.
Horrobin told CTV’s Power Play Wednesday that he doesn’t think the Prince’s alleged comment about Putin was inappropriate.
“I do think that it going to the international media was inappropriate and very much probably unexpected on Prince Charles’s part,” he said.
Horrobin said members of the Royal Family stick to pre-approved scripts when speaking publicly, but when it comes to their private conversations, there is no “hard and fast” line that shouldn’t be crossed.
“When it comes to a private conversation, it’s very much a grey zone. It depends on what sense of privacy a royal thinks they have and the sense of familiarity they have with the person they’re talking to,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of the British Parliament are weighing in on the alleged remarks.
Labour Party MP Mike Gapes tweeted: "In constitutional monarchy policy and diplomacy should be conducted by parliament and government. Monarchy should be seen and not heard."
When later questioned by a Twitter user about Charles' right to free speech, Gapes tweeted: "If you are heir to throne or monarch, what you say matters. Normal 'free speech' argument not relevant."
But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told the BBC that the Prince of Wales was "free to express himself."
Clegg said he's never believed that members of the Royal Family are somehow obligated to enter into a "Trappist vow of silence."
"I think he is entitled to his views. But I don't know whether those were his views because I just don't think providing a running commentary on what were private conversations is useful to anybody," he said.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wrap up their Canadian tour in Manitoba Wednesday evening.
With files from The Canadian Press
