- Video showed Prince Charles not shaking hands with Vice-President Mike Pence in Israel on Thursday.
- As the footage spread, many interpreted the interaction as a snub by Charles.
- Buckingham Palace and Pence's office both denied this, and said the men had interacted warmly beforehand.
- The moment echoed a missed handshake between President Donald Trump and then-Prime Minister Theresa May, which was also explained away.
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Buckingham Palace denied that Prince Charles had intentionally snubbed US Vice President Mike Pence by not shaking his had at a televised event.
Footage of Charles skipping a handshake with Pence, while warmly greeting those either side of him, led many to conclude that Charles had insulted Pence. The clip went viral, and it has been viewed 5 million times.
I’m sure Prince Charles just snubbed Mike Pence. Titter
— Darren Lethem (@DarrenLethem) January 23, 2020
pic.twitter.com/M9Hur6jXEs
However, both royal officials and Pence's official spokeswoman said that the two have a warm relationship and skipped the handshake because they had met just minutes before.
The video was recorded in Jerusalem at an event held to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious Nazi death camp, by Allied forces in WWII.
It shows Charles shaking hands with event organizer Moshe Kantor, then walking right by Pence and his wife Karen.
He then shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the UK's Press Association, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "Shortly before the Yad Vashem memorial event began, the prince and vice president Pence and his wife had a warm and friendly chat, which is why they did not greet each other again in the room."
Katie Waldman, Pence's press secretary, shared muted video footage of Charles and the Pences together in which they seem to share animated conversation.
Video of @Mike_Pence and Prince Charles backstage in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/PWOypUaUs3
— Katie Waldman (@VPPressSec) January 23, 2020
The incident is not the first time that an apparent missing handshake has caused a minor incident.
In June 2019, during a visit by President Donald Trump to 10 Downing Street, some saw a snub when Trump and First Lady Melania Trump met then-Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip.
Trump and May did not shake hands, even though everyone else in the group did.
Spokespeople later explained that this was because Trump and May had already shaken hands that day when they met in private.
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