Prince Charles took over BBC Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day” message Thursday to express his concern about the persecution of refugees fleeing from the Middle East to Europe and other areas of the world.
The radio message is usually given by a priest or cleric, but the Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne gave the message, which he is said to have written himself, according to The Telegraph.
The prince said populist groups currently rising up around the world have “deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s.”
Aides to Prince Charles quickly pointed out his words were not aimed at any specific person or group, although Claude Moraes of the Labour Party said it was “obvious” as to which politicians the prince referred, The Guardian reported.
The comments came as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reinvigorated the idea of halting immigration from Muslim countries and may also have referred to an uptick in race and religious hate crimes following the Brexit vote, The Telegraph noted.
Prince Charles asked listeners to remember that Jesus and his family also faced religious persecution and had to flee from their home to escape it.
"Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person,” he said.
The prince has not filled the slot on the radio program since a message in 2000 to mark the new millenium, the Telegraph reported. British conservatives blasted the message as “provocative” and “dangerous” and called him a hypocrite for “cozying up to human rights abusers in the Middle East,” the Daily Mail reported.
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