What royal hypocrites.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are being blasted by critics for returning from Queen Elizabeth II’s four-day Platinum Jubilee celebration in a pollution-spewing private jet fit for a Russian oligarch, according to a report.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who left the 96-year-old monarch’s bash prior to Sunday’s finale, flew back to California on a Bombardier Global 6000 – an “ultra-long range” jet that can soar 6,000 miles without refueling. The swanky aircraft also features a “private stateroom” and can carry up to 13 passengers, The Times reported Tuesday.
The couple’s 5,500-mile trip from Farnborough, England, to Santa Barbara is estimated to have emitted nearly 60 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to a chartered flight provider.
Under terms of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, a person’s annual carbon budget should be limited to 2.1 tons per year. That means Prince Harry and Markle surpassed that mark by nearly 15 times in a single flight, the Times reported.
“They pontificate about helping people and the planet and then they take private jets,” royal expert Tom Quinn told the newspaper. “They tell people to look after the environment and then they don’t look after the environment themselves. It’s enormously hypocritical.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are known advocates for climate change, but worked against the cause with their non eco-friendly flight.WireImage/Samir Hussein
The Bombardier 6000 is a “Russian oligarch kind of jet” and a natural fit for people who “just don’t care,” Quinn said. “It’s bad enough to get private jets, but to get one where the emissions are particular bad is almost like sticking two fingers up at the environmental lobby.”
The carbon emission rating of flying economy on a commercial flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles is 1.4 tons, according to a climate consultancy cited by the Times.
Prince Harry and Markle, who infamously resigned from royal duties in February 2021, returned to stateside on Sunday with their son, Archie, 3, and 1-year-old daughter, Lillibet. Their family members watched the Platinum Jubilee parade from the Buckingham Palace balcony after they headed back to California.
The 37-year-old Harry has previously characterized climate change as one of the “most pressing issues” facing mankind. He also told Oprah Winfrey during last year’s bombshell tell-all that he wanted to face the issue head on and later committed to offsetting his carbon emissions for all flights he took, the Times reported.
“We need to do better about stopping or allowing the things that are causing so much harm to so many of us at the source, rather than being distracted by the symptom,” Harry told Winfrey.