Palace denies claims Prince Charles snubbed Pence

Buckingham Palace dismissed suggestions that Prince Charles deliberately ignored US Vice President Mike Pence at a Holocaust memorial ceremony in Jerusalem on Thursday, saying the two had a "warm and friendly chat" before event.

A video, which was circulating widely on social media, shows the prince chatting with various dignitaries at the ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem.

Charles, 71, then approaches Pence, briefly looks at him, but moves on without shaking the US vice president's hand and greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Shortly before the Yad Vashem memorial event began, the prince and Vice President Pence had a warm and friendly chat, which is why they did not greet each other again in the room," said a statement from the office of the Prince of Wales said.

In his address to the ceremony, where more than 40 heads of state and government were marking 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, Prince Charles warned that "the lessons of the Holocaust are still relevant to this day".

© 2020 AFP