By trying to highlight the severity of war in Europe, he seemed to overlook entire continents
Prince William has been blasted for what many are calling "offensive", "tone deaf" and even racist comments regarding the current situation in
Ukraine.
The Duke and Duchess visited the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London earlier this week, where William made comments that have been labelled highly inappropriate.
https://twitter.com/Nadine_Writes/status/1501639168702693382?s=20&t=SBE6LNKOxIf78OOmh58fPQ
As the
Independent's race correspondent and columnist Nadine White reshared on Twitter, William reportedly suggested to volunteers that it was "normal" to see war and bloodshed in Africa and Asia but "very alien to see this in Europe".
While the couple was said to be understandably moved by Ukraine's struggle, expressing a sentiment of solidarity in assuring "we're all behind you", the downplaying of conflict and hardship in eastern continents has been criticisied.
https://twitter.com/AvaSantina/status/1501636780302512128?s=20&t=SBDp_uxtoTCpL7abz47m-Q
As White went on to point out, not only did these comments come just after the couple had finished their tour of the former Caribbean colonies, but the Royal Family had directly benefitted from Britain's bloody colonial past.
https://twitter.com/SholaMos1/status/1501657187260710912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1501657187260710912%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-2439477907232573242.ampproject.net%2F2202230359001%2Fframe.html
Bernice King, civil rights activist and the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr, also shared her dismay at the understated assessment of wars in Africa and the East, labelling it "horrific".
https://twitter.com/BerniceKing/status/1501713841356476416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1501713841356476416%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-2439477907232573242.ampproject.net%2F2202230359001%2Fframe.html
Plenty of other commenters have also pointed out that Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is by no means the only war in Europe in the last century - multiple in the post-WW2 era, in fact.
https://twitter.com/scobie/status/1501699001489448965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1501699001489448965%7Ctwgr%5Ehb_2_8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php
Neither Prince William nor the Palace has issued any response to the backlash.
However, on Thursday afternoon and hours into the backlash, ITV Royal correspondent Lizzie Robinson shared a clip of the conversation in question—not featuring the words "Africa" or "Asia".
https://twitter.com/LizzieITV/status/1501897141282910220
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