<p>Prince Charles had turned his back on India-born Salman Rushdie after a fatwa was issued against him for his controversial novel 'The Satanic Verses' because he thought the book was offensive to Muslims, a British author has claimed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Martin Amis claims that the Prince of Wales' views caused a row at a dinner party after Rushdie was issued with the death sentence by Islamic clerics in 1989.<br /><br />In an interview with 'Vanity Fair' magazine, he claims that the heir to the British throne told him that he would not offer support "if someone insults someone else's deepest convictions".<br /><br />Amis is quoted as saying: "I had an argument with Prince Charles at a small dinner party. And I said that a novel doesn't set out to insult anyone: 'It sets out to give pleasure to its readers,' I told him.<br /><br />"A novel is an essentially playful undertaking, and this is an exceedingly playful novel. The Prince took it on board, but I'd suppose the next night at a different party he would have said the same thing."<br /><br />'Vanity Fair', marking 25 years since the fatwa was issued by the Iranian government under Ayatollah Khomeini, has asked a group of novelists here about their memories of the time.<br /><br />Stephen King told the magazine that he intervened on Rushdie's behalf after an American book chain said it would not be stocking 'The Satanic Verses'.<br /><br />Ian McEwan remembered a dinner party he held for the fugitive Rushdie at his Gloucestershire cottage, and "standing the next morning with Salman in the country kitchen, a grey English morning, and he was the lead item on the BBC – another Middle East figure saying he too would condemn him to death.<br /><br />"It was a very sad moment – standing buttering toast and listening to that awful message on the radio".<br /><br />Rushdie, 66, himself told 'Vanity Fair' that "Ian was very upset. For me, there were threats like this every day, sometimes two or three times...I was shaken, I'm sure, but Ian is a loving man, and I think he was even more shaken than I was by the violence of the assault on his friend."<br /><br />The Booker Prize winning author also recalled novelist Graham Greene calling out to him during a lunch at London's Reform Club in 1989: "Rushdie! Come and sit here and tell me how you managed to make so much trouble! I never made nearly as much trouble as that!"<br /><br />Rushdie described Greene's salute as "oddly comforting" as "England's most famous living author was making light of the fix he was in".</p>
<p>Prince Charles had turned his back on India-born Salman Rushdie after a fatwa was issued against him for his controversial novel 'The Satanic Verses' because he thought the book was offensive to Muslims, a British author has claimed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Martin Amis claims that the Prince of Wales' views caused a row at a dinner party after Rushdie was issued with the death sentence by Islamic clerics in 1989.<br /><br />In an interview with 'Vanity Fair' magazine, he claims that the heir to the British throne told him that he would not offer support "if someone insults someone else's deepest convictions".<br /><br />Amis is quoted as saying: "I had an argument with Prince Charles at a small dinner party. And I said that a novel doesn't set out to insult anyone: 'It sets out to give pleasure to its readers,' I told him.<br /><br />"A novel is an essentially playful undertaking, and this is an exceedingly playful novel. The Prince took it on board, but I'd suppose the next night at a different party he would have said the same thing."<br /><br />'Vanity Fair', marking 25 years since the fatwa was issued by the Iranian government under Ayatollah Khomeini, has asked a group of novelists here about their memories of the time.<br /><br />Stephen King told the magazine that he intervened on Rushdie's behalf after an American book chain said it would not be stocking 'The Satanic Verses'.<br /><br />Ian McEwan remembered a dinner party he held for the fugitive Rushdie at his Gloucestershire cottage, and "standing the next morning with Salman in the country kitchen, a grey English morning, and he was the lead item on the BBC – another Middle East figure saying he too would condemn him to death.<br /><br />"It was a very sad moment – standing buttering toast and listening to that awful message on the radio".<br /><br />Rushdie, 66, himself told 'Vanity Fair' that "Ian was very upset. For me, there were threats like this every day, sometimes two or three times...I was shaken, I'm sure, but Ian is a loving man, and I think he was even more shaken than I was by the violence of the assault on his friend."<br /><br />The Booker Prize winning author also recalled novelist Graham Greene calling out to him during a lunch at London's Reform Club in 1989: "Rushdie! Come and sit here and tell me how you managed to make so much trouble! I never made nearly as much trouble as that!"<br /><br />Rushdie described Greene's salute as "oddly comforting" as "England's most famous living author was making light of the fix he was in".</p>