April 09, 2005
Prince Charles was sitting one space away from Mugabe, and was caught unawares during the portion of the mass when the members of the congregation "exchange the peace," a time of mutual reconciliation and greeting.
A Clarence House spokesman said the prince "finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent" and "was not in a position to avoid shaking Mr Mugabe's hand".Mugabe sidestepped an EU ban on travel in order to attend the Vatican funeral service. Mugabe was able to travel because the Vatican is a soverign state, separate from the European Union.The spokesman added: "He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime.
"The prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."
A Foreign Office spokesman said seating arrangements at the funeral were made by the Vatican.
But Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock, who has called for the EU to get tougher with the Mugabe regime, said shaking his hand was not "sensible".
She added: "I am sure that by now Prince Charles regrets shaking Mugabe's hand.
"However, this is yet another failure of the establishment, of people with power and responsibility in the international community, to be sensitive enough about how to respond to this man."
MEP Richard Corbett said Prince Charles should have refused to shake Mr Mugabe's hand.
He said: "This was a golden opportunity to deliberately and very visibly refuse to shake hands with this man.
"To fail to do so was, frankly, stupid."
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