‘Green’ Charles takes domestic private flights to dodge road traffic

THE Prince of Wales took more than 20 private flights, including several helicopters, within the UK last year in order to avoid being stuck in traffic, it emerged yesterday.

The Prince is said to be “allergic” to travelling by helicopter, one of the most polluting modes of travel.

However, the annual Sovereign Grant report revealed that he took several flights during the last financial year, including hopping between engagements in Northern Ireland and Wales and a 70-mile trip from London to Brize Norton in order to catch a charter flight to Jordan. The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall also appear to have flown separately to Wales by helicopter from their respective homes, Highgrove and Ray Mill.

The couple took more than 15 charter flights, including to and from Belfast, and multiple journeys from residence to residence, including Glasgow to Northolt last July, and Northolt to Marham to Aberdeen in December. It comes as the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince’s landed estate, outlined its ambition to reach net zero carbon by the early 2030s.

A senior royal source admitted there was “a conflict” in being an environmental champion as well as someone with state responsibilities to travel. “That is tricky,” they acknowledged.

“You only get to use the helicopter if every other option has failed. But there are just some days where you’ve got to be in place A at this time and place B at that time. And, as we all know, driving around the country in our cars, you hit traffic.” The report revealed that the Queen had become one of the first people in the UK to win approval for the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), while the Royal Train is now powered exclusively by hydro-treated vegetable oil, a biofuel made from waste products.

Wherever possible, the RAF Voyager also uses SAF, at an additional cost that is picked up by the taxpayer.

Overall, the monarchy’s taxpayerfunded spending came to £102.4million during 2021-22 – an increase of £14.9million, or 17 per cent, on the previous financial year.

However, a royal source insisted that the family was “extremely conscious” of the cost of living crisis, with the Prince paying very close attention to the matter.

The cost of running the Prince’s London office and Clarence House residence came to £107,000, while his official travel by air and rail was £892,000. The Prince and Duchess’s travel costs rose by £640,000 on the previous year, as overseas tours resumed. Almost 90 per cent of the household’s energy came from renewable sources, with just under half generated onsite by solar panels, biomass heaters and heat pumps.

The source insisted that the Prince was working to reconcile the conflict between his responsibilities travelling around the world and his decades-long campaign against climate change. The Prince is “pretty allergic” to travelling by helicopter and will always “raise an eyebrow” and object when the mode of transport is suggested, they said.