December 29, 2002

PRINCE Charles had dropped plans to visit the United States because the White House, apparently unhappy with his views on Iraq, had signalled he would not be welcome, The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.

In a front-page report, it said that "senior figures in the Bush administration" had indicated that it would be "very unhelpful" for the trip to proceed due to the prince's reported concern that a war would lead to a dangerous rift between the West and the Muslim world.

"A week-long tour was in the diary for February or March 2003," it quoted a senior British government official as saying.

"But the prince has been politely informed that his views on the current (Iraq) crisis might not go down well."

The Mail on Sunday added that the Foreign Office was concerned that a US visit by the heir to the British throne might be used by anti-war activists to drive a wedge between US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's strongest ally on Iraq.

A Foreign Office spokesman was quoted in the newspaper as saying that it could not confirm Charles' overseas travel plans "so far ahead of time".

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002