Leftists on Twitter were overjoyed Thursday after video from the World Holocaust Forum surfaced, appearing to show the United Kingdom’s Prince Charles snubbing American Vice President Mike Pence, ignoring Pence’s offered hand in a receiving line, leaving the Vice President looking crestfallen.
But the Vice President’s office is already pushing back on the claims, saying the pair had a congenial chat right before the video was taken and that they’d already greeted each other, so the pair didn’t shake hands again after the Prince’s speech marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
There was an outbreak of leftist glee over the alleged incident, as opponents of the Vice President’s boss, President Donald Trump, lauded Prince Charles for stabbing at the administration.
I’m sure Prince Charles just snubbed Mike Pence. Titter
— Darren Lethem (@DarrenLethem) January 23, 2020
MSNBC was visibly thrilled.
"Just before the program started, Prince Charles entered, bypassing the Pences completely before greeting other leaders and taking his seat." https://t.co/9hm5KWe05Q
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 23, 2020
Others praised Prince Charles for recognizing “evil.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a snub so blatant as Prince Charles taking half a glance at Mike Pence and being like: “Not today, Satan.” pic.twitter.com/9hZhj7UbEm
— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) January 23, 2020
The Vice President’s press pool reported that, “When Prince Charles arrived, he greeted leaders in the front row, and shook PM Netanyahu’s hand — but skipped VP Pence. “
There’s just one problem: the pair met before this interaction and, according to the Vice President’s press secretary, had a congenial conversation. For those who may not believe the White House’s press department, there’s even photographic evidence.
All smiles as VP Pence exchanges greetings with Prince Charles at World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem which @VP addressed this morning. (Official White House Photo Myles D. Cullen) pic.twitter.com/R85PXgBxHo
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 23, 2020
Bloomberg News’ Jennifer Jacobs filled in the blanks.
“Pence’s spokeswoman says the VP and the Second Lady spoke with Prince Charles for five minutes in the pre-program before they entered the hall,” she reported, quoting further reports from the same press pool that reported the snub. “After Pence spoke, he shook hands with Prince Charles, Macron, Putin and Netanyahu. Via pool reporter.”
It would be unusual for Prince Charles to make such an overt political statement, regardless, even if he dramatically disagrees with the Trump Administration over key issues like climate change (the Prince took an electric car to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to demonstrate his commitment to saving the planet, even as President Donald Trump warned attendees that the “crisis” was overblown).
The royal family is prohibited by protocol from expressing a negative opinion on world leaders and airing such disagreements in public — the rule is one of the reasons, royal watchers speculate, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were in such a hurry to ditch their formal ties to the family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are far more political than the rest of the family, and, reportedly, wanted to be free to express their support for their pet causes.
Prince Charles, if nothing else, is a stickler for protocol, largely thanks to his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and he certainly would be keen to avoid making headlines right now, given how much flack the royal family has taken in recent weeks, between Harry and Meghan’s departure, and the saga surrounding Prince Andrew, who was a close personal friend of now-deceased convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, and likely named as a “client” of Epstein’s global sex trafficking ring in documents associated with Epstein’s prosecution.
Both Pence and Prince Charles are attending the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, Israel, this week, and both delivered moving speeches in remembrance of the millions who died in the Holocaust on the 75th anniversay of the liberation of Auschwitz.