Video taken at the World Holocaust Forum on January 23 showed Prince Charles absolutely swerving Mike Pence as the US vice president went in for a handshake. The footage, which you can watch below, shows the Prince of Wales moving down a line of foreign dignitaries before looking Pence directly in the eye and skipping over him to greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead. Pence, frankly, looks crushed by the snub as Charles made his way to his seat between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron. Both Buckingham Palace and Pence’s press secretary, Katie Waldman, have denied that any snub took place.
Waldman tweeted a video backstage at the event in Jerusalem, which showed a conversation between Pence, Charles, and Second Lady Karen Pence. She also shared a photo of the men smiling at each other, writing, “This is not true. VP and Prince Charles spoke prior to entering the event floor and after his remarks as well. Vice President Pence and the Second Lady spoke with Prince Charles for five minutes in the pre-program before they entered the hall. Also they shook hands at the end of his remarks.” Buckingham Palace told the BBC in a statement that the men had a “long and warm conversation.”
The awkward interaction comes the day after Charles attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where US President Donald Trump gave a bizarre speech mocking environmentalists and denying climate change. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, 17, gave two impassioned speeches following Trump’s, in which she implored world leaders and business leaders to stop using fossil fuels and recognize that climate change will destroy the world their children are forced to grow up in. “Our house is still on fire,” Thunberg said. Note the difference in the videos below between Charles’ interaction with Pence, and how he greeted Thunberg in Davos the day prior.
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
WATCH: Prince Charles meets @GretaThunberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos. pic.twitter.com/qukGTwx8Ah
— The Hill (@thehill) January 22, 2020
Before his pained moment with the Prince of Wales, Pence was caught on a hot mic discussing what appeared to be the impeachment trial with Netanyahu, “We’re contending,” Pence told Netanyahu. “He’s unstoppable, like somebody else I know.”