Prince William’s Ukraine Comment Sparks Mass Debate As New Video Surfaces

Prince William has divided opinion with his comments on the escalating conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Appearing alongside his wife, Kate Middleton, the royal visited the Ukrainian Culture Centre in London, and met with people affected by the war. As per The Independent, it was initially reported that Prince William had made a comment that wars were “alien” in Europe, unlike in Asia and Africa. But a newly-surfaced video appears to dispel these reports.

These alleged comments were highlighted on Twitter by The Independent’s race correspondent Nadine White, who remarked that William’s remarks came days before William and Kate’s tour of the Caribbean, which includes former colonies of the United Kingdom such as Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada.

Calling William’s alleged comment “horrific” in a since-deleted tweet, Bernice King, chief executive of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, stated how “European people ran roughshod over the continent of Africa, pillaging communities, raping women, enslaving human beings, colonising for profit and power, stealing resources, causing generational devastation.” King added that “European nations continue to harm Africa” to this day.

However, ITV News’ Royal Editor Chris Ship has now taken to Twitter with video footage depicting Prince William talking at the event. He remarked: “There has been lots of reporting about Prince William’s words about Ukraine️ during a visit yesterday. Our camera was there, so in the interests of fact and accuracy (important things), here is what he said.”

Delivering the audio transcript, Ship revealed that Prince William said: “Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. It’s really horrifying. The news every day, it’s just, it’s almost unfathomable. For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe. We’re all right behind you. We’re thinking about you. We feel so useless.”

Responding to the new information, one Twitter user wrote: “He is not wrong. Such a shame those kind words got taken and used for a different narrative.”

Meanwhile, others argued that William’s “war is alien in Europe” comment still missed the mark. “The damage is done, there is no way to reverse it,” stated a Twitter user. “What was said, it shouldn’t have been said — either version.”

Kensington Palace declined to comment on-record when contacted by Bustle.

With contributions from Sophie McEvoy