MEGHAN’S DOUBLE FAULT
She won’t travel up to Balmoral – but eco Duchess WILL fly 7,000 miles for a tennis match
The Duchess of Sussex jetted off to New York yesterday – without Archie – to watch her close friend Serena Williams play in a tennis final.
Meghan took a commercial flight from heathrow after what sources claimed was a ‘last-minute’ decision to cheer on her pal in the US Open.
her decision to use a scheduled service comes after she and Prince harry were criticised for taking six private jets between them in a month over the summer, while lecturing the public about reducing their environmental footprint.
It also comes just hours after aides insisted the Sussexes were too busy working on charitable projects to join the Queen on holiday in Balmoral.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the US trip, although sources said Meghan would offset her carbon emissions. But her decision to fly across the Atlantic in the same week harry launched a sustainable travel initiative will throw the couple’s green credentials into question yet again.
Meghan’s 7,000-mile journey to New York and back over almost three days is expected to generate 986kg of carbon dioxide. Campaigners say the only sure way to reduce global warming is to start drastically cutting air travel.
A royal source said: ‘ her friendship with Serena is well known. It’s a private trip and a last-minute decision. She is excited to support her friend.’
however sources close to the tennis star, who was a guest at Meghan’s wedding last year, claimed the pair had been talking about the trip for ‘several days’. Serena also organised Meghan’s lavish New York baby shower earlier this year, while the duchess was seen twice at Wimbledon in July supporting her friend. The source said Serena’s aides were concerned that Meghan’s presence would ‘put her off’ and would be seen as too much of a ‘publicity stunt’.
‘But Serena just adores Meghan and wouldn’t hear a word of it,’ they said. Meghan’s trip, her first without her baby Archie, comes as Buckingham Palace formally confirmed that the Sussexes will take the fourmonth-old to Africa with them this month on their first official tour as a family.
They will arrive in Cape Town on a commercial flight on September 23. The trip will include solo trips for harry to Botswana, Angola and Malawi. Aides explained that it was ‘impossible’ for harry to take Archie with him because the prince was travelling on a ‘tiny’ 12-seater propeller plane and there were ‘inevitable’ security and health concerns. Like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, harry and Meghan will be taking their new – as yet unnamed – nanny with them, aides also confirmed. however in stark contrast to William and Kate, the Sussexes have insisted their arrival will be kept private. Aides say this is down to ‘protocol’ as the president of South Africa is not in the country. They were also unable to confirm whether there would be any opportunity for the public to see Archie, seventh in line to the throne.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who have both travelled with their parents abroad, undertook several public engagements on royal tours. ‘It is somewhat baffling, although Archie is that much younger than George or Charlotte were,’ a senior royal source said. ‘But there is such genuine interest in the young royals... that their reluctance does seem strange.’