'If anyone knows real Nazis, it's the British royal family,' says Russia Today, before introducing explanatory video

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A Kremlin-funded news channel has hit back at Prince Charles likening Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler by highlighting the royal family's historical links to the Nazis.

The unashamedly pro-Russian broadcaster Russia Today said Charles should look to his own family history before criticising Putin over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

"If anyone knows real Nazis it's the royal family," said RT senior political correspondent Anissa Naouai on its In the Now programme. She then introduced a slick video graphic of a mocked-up photo album providing a pictorial guide to the House of Windsor's Nazi links.

It featured a photograph of Charles's great uncle, the Duke of Windsor, visiting Hitler at his Obersalzberg retreat shortly after abdicating as Edward VIII. Naouai commented that Edward's wife Wallace Simpson "hung out with Hitler".

A man reads the Sun in January 2005 with a headline about Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

RT went on to note that the Duke of Edinburgh's sister Sophie was married to an SS officer.

The channel even dredged up photographs of Prince Harry dressed in a Nazi uniform at a party. "And then Prince Charles's very own son likes to dress up like a Nazi even if it's just for Halloween," Naouai quipped.

She added: "Perhaps royals are better seen and not heard."

RT's intervention came after the prince sparked a diplomatic row during a private conversation with a Jewish survivor of the second world war. "Now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler," Charles told Marianne Ferguson in reference to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Charles is due to meet Putin at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June. Looking ahead to the ceremony, Naouai said: "The royal family should look at their ties before Putin and Charles meet in a couple of weeks to commemorate defeating Nazis in world war two. That could be awkward."

Russia's embassy in London described Charles's remarks as "outrageous" and demanded a meeting with the Foreign Office to clarify what was said. The Foreign Office brushed off Russia's complaint, saying it could not be expected to comment on private conversations.