The office of Britain's Prince Charles has assured a pro-Tibetan group that he will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
The prince's deputy private secretary, Clive Alderton, made the assurance in a letter to the Free Tibet group, which had written to Charles asking him to boycott the Beijing games.
In the letter, Alderton says Charles has long taken a close interest in Tibet and has had several meetings with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Chinese region. Alderton says the prince will not go to the Olympics opening ceremony but does not elaborate.
A spokeswoman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee (Wang Hui) said Monday that any boycott would be "unfair" because the games are a festival for the whole world, not only for China.
The prince's deputy private secretary, Clive Alderton, made the assurance in a letter to the Free Tibet group, which had written to Charles asking him to boycott the Beijing games.
In the letter, Alderton says Charles has long taken a close interest in Tibet and has had several meetings with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Chinese region. Alderton says the prince will not go to the Olympics opening ceremony but does not elaborate.
A spokeswoman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee (Wang Hui) said Monday that any boycott would be "unfair" because the games are a festival for the whole world, not only for China.
Prince Charles has long been a supporter of Tibetan causes and hosted a reception for the Dalai Lama at St. James' Palace in 2004.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and has since traveled the world seeking support for Tibetan rights. Beijing regards him as a separatist.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP .