Prince Charles Compares Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler During Talk With Holocaust Survivor

Prince Charles has reportedly made a royal mess of modern-day politics by telling a Holocaust survivor that Vladimir Putin was akin to Adolf Hitler.

The comment came Monday as Prince Charles — with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall — paid a visit to the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to the Daily Mail.

Speaking to a 78-year-old museum volunteer whose family fled to Canada when she was 13, the British Prince offered his scathing observation about Russia’s president Putin.

“And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler,” Charles said, according to the Daily Mail.

The Prince’s statement comes at a delicate time as many world leaders remain critical of Putin’s seizure of Crimea.

It was the first annexation by a major power in Europe since 1945 — and many critics have likened Putin’s treatment of the Ukraine to Hitler’s invasions of Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The Prince of Wales is expected to meet Putin in France June 6 for D-Day commemorations.

According to the Mail, the Prince made his observation to museum volunteer Marienne Ferguson after she told him how she and her parents, sisters and grandmother got permits to flee Gdansk, Poland ahead of the Nazis.

The Prince was wrapping up a three-day whirlwind tour of Canada with wife Camilla.

“I was very surprised that he made the comment as I know (the Royal Family) aren’t meant to say these things but it was very heartfelt and honest,” Ferguson told the Mail.

“I told the prince that while my family and I were lucky to get a permit to travel, many of my other relatives had permits but were unable to get out before war broke out on September 1. They were sent to the concentration camps and died,” she added.

It’s considered taboo for a member of the Royal family to openly express an opinion on political affairs, particularly highly-charged ones like Putin’s aggressiveness with Ukraine.

A spokesman for the Clarence House, which handles media matters for the Royal family, told the Mail it would not comment on a private conversation.