CHARLES WINDSOR plunged himself into another political crisis yesterday after likening Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler.

Talking to a Holocaust survivor during a short trip to Canada, the prince compared the annexation of Poland by the nazis to the Crimean request to join the Russian Federation.

Marienne Ferguson, who had fled Poland with her Jewish family, was telling the prince her life story when he quipped, “and now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler.”

“It’s no surprise that an unemployed rich aristocrat has such contempt for the democratically expressed views of the people of Crimea,” said Communist Party of Britain general secretary Rob Griffiths.

Mr Windsor’s language was “inflammatory and insulting,” added Mr Griffiths.

But Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps seemed delighted at the royal’s “personal opinions.”

Ilford South Labour MP Mike Grapes, on the other hand, suggested Prince Charles should step down from his royal role and run for election if he wishes to make “controversial statements.”

Mr Windsor is no stranger to controversy after hitting headlines with a series of memos to Cabinet ministers expressing his opinions on modern politics. 

He is said to have been concerned with the “degree to which our lives are becoming ruled by a truly absurd degree of politically correct interference,” among other issues. 

Clarence House refused to comment on “private conversations.”