Prince Charles was at the centre of a dispute last night after comments he made about the Falklands/Malvinas islands during his visit to Argentina.
In a speech on Tuesday night to an audience which included Argentina's President, Mr Carlos Menem, the prince appealed to the people of Argentina to allow Falklanders to live in peace.
He said: "My hope is that the people of modern, democratic Argentina, with their passionate attachment to their national traditions, will in the future be able to live amicably alongside the people of another modern, if rather smaller, democracy lying a few hundred miles off your coast - a people just as passionately attached to their traditions - and be able to do so in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect, so that neither will again need to feel any fear from, or hostility towards, the other."
The decision to mention the delicate subject of the Falklands, which the UK and Argentina went to war over in 1982, prompted anger among some in Buenos Aires. The country's Vice-President, Mr Carlos Rucauf, described the prince's comments as "intolerable", the BBC reported. Argentine media also expressed "astonishment".
For the British, a Foreign Office source said the prince's speech, written by the Foreign Office, contained only an oblique reference to the difficult issue of the Falklands. "He spoke in human terms and it would have been strange to totally ignore the subject," said the source.
The prince was last night praised by Argentina's Foreign Minister for his efforts towards reconciliation over the Falkland Islands. Dr Guido Di Tella said that the prince's visit had been a great success.
The prince yesterday He inspected beehives at the Buenas Ondas Foundation, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where 1970s singer Piero de Benedectis has an ecological farm project for underprivileged children.
Many British newspapers devoted their front pages to pictures to the prince and Adreana Vasile, a professional dancer who hooked her stockinged leg around him just as they finished dancing the tango to loud applause.