British politicians have defended the right of Prince Charles to speak his mind after he reportedly compared the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine to those of Adolf Hitler.
Pince Charles made the apparently unguarded comment during a trip to a museum in Canada, in private conversation with a Polish-born woman who had fled the Nazis as a child.
"I had finished showing him the exhibit and talked with him about my own family background and how I came to Canada," 78-year-old Marienne Ferguson told the Daily Mail newspaper.
"The prince then said: 'And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler'."
Ferguson later confirmed her account of the conversation in a BBC interview.
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Charles and Putin are both attending commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, although royal aides said no formal meeting was scheduled.
Prime Minister David Cameron declined to comment on a private conversation, but said: "Of course, everyone is entitled to their private opinions."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he was "free to express himself".
Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband went even further, saying: "I think he has got a point about President Putin's actions, and I think he is absolutely entitled to say that there are real concerns about that."
However, Labour lawmaker Mike Gapes, a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, disagreed with his colleagues.
"If Prince Charles wants to make controversial statements on national or international issues, he should abdicate and stand for election," he said.
The prince's office would not confirm the remarks but said he would not have intended to make a political statement.
There was no official reaction in Moscow to his comments, but daily paper Moskovsky Komsomolets said the remark risked triggering an "international scandal".
The crisis over Ukraine has led to fresh tensions between Britain and Russia as the United States and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia for its intervention in the former Soviet state.
