New footage provides twist in Prince William controversy

Buckingham Palace has released new footage of Prince William’s conversation on a royal visit this week in a bid to shut down a brewing controversy.

New footage has been released of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London amid backlash over a comment that was allegedly made by the Duke of Cambridge.

It was widely reported that William had remarked that a war in Europe is “very alien to see” given British people are “more used to seeing conflict in Africa and Asia” as he and his wife met with volunteers at the organisation.

Amid mounting backlash, a new clip of the royal visit has now been released, which shows more clearly what was said – or rather, what wasn’t said.

In the footage, William can be heard saying: “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.”

During a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre yesterday, Prince William said: “Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. The news every day, it’s almost unfathomable. For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe. We’re all right behind you.” Watch here👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/kQFbcivgvK

— Lizzie Robinson (@LizzieITV) March 10, 2022

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William and Kate during their visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London. Picture: Ian Vogler/Pool/AFP

On Thursday, royal correspondent Richard Palmer, the reporter who misquoted the prince, took to Twitter to correct his original report.

Sharing the new footage of the Duke’s remarks, he wrote: “The Duke of Cambridge on war in Europe. He doesn’t appear to have compared it to conflicts in Africa and Asia. In the chaos, a remark he made was misheard, starting a social media storm. Apologies for reporting that online.”

In the wake of the initial reports, a number of people pointed out that two major world wars were fought in Europe, and William was slammed for the “ignorant” comment based on the perceived “white coloniser ideology”.

Prince William has even lived through conflict on the continent in his lifetime – including the Kosovo War from 1998 to 1999, and the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Another pointed out that his mother, Princess Diana, visited war-torn Bosnia after conflict waged between the joint force of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former republic of Yugoslavia, and Croatia and Serbia, from 1992 to 1995.

Prince William’s own mother visited Bosnia in 1997, shortly before her death. Are you telling me he wasn’t aware of the war and genocide that was raging on at that time? pic.twitter.com/ZLIJlP9cxm

— MD (@MarkleDuchess) March 9, 2022

Unsurprised to see backlash against Prince William's ignorant remark (reported by @PA). 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. pic.twitter.com/49xYzFOyBK

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) March 9, 2022

Prince William: Africans & Asians are used to all that war. Europeans don’t do that.

History teachers across the world: pic.twitter.com/2U06jtMZ83

— Veronica McDonald🗣 (@Purify_toast17) March 9, 2022

“War doesn’t happen in Europe” is an EXTREMELY, WILDLY AHISTORICAL thing to say about a continent that is on its Third World War in less than a century

— We Can Build A Better World 🕊 (@BreeNewsome) March 9, 2022

Prince William very moved by war on "European soil"

Conflict in Africa and Asia v normalised, apparently. pic.twitter.com/R0KmVFx4Hi

— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) March 9, 2022

This is typical white supremacist colonizer ideology. This is such a wildly ahistorical take & they just keep saying it for no reason except to signal some false civilizational superiority of the majority-white nations https://t.co/KF9l68e3Jn

— We Can Build A Better World 🕊 (@BreeNewsome) March 9, 2022

His comment comes after US CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata was similarly skewered for making the same comparison, calling Ukraine “relatively civilised” and unlike countries in the Middle East.

“This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades,” D’Agata said on air.

“This is a relatively civilised, relatively European – I have to choose those words carefully too – city, one where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen.”

D’Agata later apologised, saying, “I spoke in a way I regret, and for that I’m sorry.”

Social media users have slammed Prince William for his ‘ignorant’ comment. Picture: AFP

William and Kate expressed their “solidarity” with the people of Ukraine soon after Vladimir Putin launched his attack, saying in a tweet: “We stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky responded, thanking them for their support.

“Olena and I are grateful to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge that at this crucial time, when Ukraine is courageously opposing Russia’s invasion, they stand by our country and support our brave citizens,” he said.

“Good will triumph.”

William and Kate pictured during their visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London on March 9. Picture: AFP

Tanks first rolled over Ukraine’s borders on February 24 after Putin ordered his long-feared invasion.

He declared that the neighbouring nation “belongs to Russia” as he followed through on promises to seize territory given up by the country in the fall of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine has been in resistance ever since, with thousands of petrified families making desperate dashes to the Polish border, many terrified they will never see their relatives again.

At least two million people have already fled their homes to escape the conflict, with four million expected to be displaced as the Russian invasion continues.