Prince William is under fire for recent comments he made about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The second in line to the British throne was visiting a Ukrainian cultural centre in London when he said it was "very alien" to see conflict break out in Europe and that Brits were more used to seeing war in Asia and Africa.
"We are all behind you," Prince William told volunteers at the cultural centre. "We feel so useless."
The Prince's comments went viral online, with many accusing him of racism and pointing out some of the world's worst conflicts have taken place in Europe.
"Did Prince William take any decent history classes in school?" one Twitter user asked.
"Can someone tell #PrinceWilliam that there have been plenty of wars on European soil," another commented.
"It appears to be not a well thought out comment by Prince William," said another.
"Unsurprised to see [the] backlash against Prince William's ignorant remark," another wrote.
"Europe has seen some of the bloodiest conflict in the past two centuries - Balkans, Yugoslavia, Germany and Kosovo to name a few. But sure, let's normalise war and death in Africa and Asia."
Prince William's comments come after a television reporter on US network CBS described Kyiv as a "relatively civilised, relatively European" city, in contrast to other war zones.
The reporter, Charlie D’Agata, apologised - saying he was trying to convey the scale of the conflict.
Late last month, Prince William and his wife Kate said they stood with the people of Ukraine as they "bravely fight" the invasion by Russia.
The UK royal family doesn't usually comment on major political matters, sticking to a constitutional norm that they should remain neutral.
However, William's father Prince Charles has also spoken out against the invasion as "brutal aggression".
During a trip to Canada in 2014, Prince Charles caused a diplomatic row when his private remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "doing just about the same as Hitler” became public. He made the comments after Russia's annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea province.
Charles' son and William's younger brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who have stepped down from royal duties, said they stood with Ukraine "against this breach of international and humanitarian law".
Reuters / Newshub.
