PRINCES’ TURBULENT TIMES
I paid for Harry’s jet, admits Elton — leave him alone
SIR Elton John launched an extraordinary defence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last night amid a furious row over their ‘hypocritical’ use of private jets.
The 72-year-old attacked ‘distorted and malicious’ reports about their recent trips to Spain and France, in which they took four luxury flights in 11 days.
He revealed that Harry, Meghan and baby Archie had stayed at his £15million St Tropez villa – and he laid on their flights.
The eco-warrior royals recently said that with so many people on the planet ‘every action makes a difference’. But their green credentials have been called into question as campaigners say private jets create far more pollution than scheduled flights.
Sir Elton said he had made a donation to offset their carbon footprint. In a series of tweets, he wrote: ‘I am deeply distressed by today’s distorted and malicious account in the Press surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s private stay at my home in Nice last week.’
He said he wanted to protect Harry, Meghan and Archie from the ‘unnecessary press intrusion’ that he believes contributed to the death of Princess Diana.
Sir Elton added that he and husband David Furnish wanted to give the family a private holiday ‘after a hectic year continuing their hard work and dedication to charity’.
The singer went on: ‘To maintain a high level of much-needed protection, we provided them with a private jet flight. To support Prince Harry’s commitment to the environment, we ensured their flight was carbon neutral, by making the appropriate contribution to Carbon Footprint.’
The company gives donations to a range of renewable energy projects, including wind farms, hydroelectric plants and tree planting. Sir Elton finished: ‘I highly respect and applaud both Harry and Meghan’s commitment to charity and I’m calling on the Press to cease these relentless and untrue assassinations on their character that are spuriously crafted on an almost daily basis.’
However, veteran royal commentator Phil Dampier said: ‘They must have known that taking private jets four times in quick succession would leave them open to charges of hypocrisy but they just went ahead and did it anyway.
‘People don’t like to be lectured on climate change by those who don’t follow their own advice.’
Pictures emerged of Harry, Meghan and Archie boarding a £15million private jet in Nice after three days at Sir Elton’s home.
Their arrival in France came just two days after they flew home by private jet from Ibiza after a sixnight break celebrating Meghan’s 38th birthday.
Each flight is estimated to have created a carbon footprint of more than three tons, producing seven times more carbon emissions per person than a commercial flight.
They arrived in France on a 12seater Cessna aircraft last Wednesday, despite there being more than 20 scheduled commercial flights from London to Nice that day.
Their earlier trip to Ibiza is believed to have produced a footprint of more than four tons.
The carbon footprint – carbon dioxide released as a direct result of an activity – of an average person in the UK is 13 tons a year.
Paul Morozzo, of Greenpeace UK, said: ‘An airliner is over ten times as polluting as a modern train, and private jets are ten times more polluting still. It’s vitally important all frequent fliers reduce the number of flights they take if we are to confront the climate emergency.’
Harry and Meghan have previously claimed they will have a maximum of two children to avoid damaging the environment.
They frequently post about ‘saving the planet’ on Instagram, which
‘People don’t like to be lectured’
has prompted a backlash from some of their 9.3million followers.
Just yesterday they published a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu which read: ‘Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.’
But some responses included ‘How about less gas-guzzling air travel?’ and ‘Are you done jetsetting and being hypocrites?’
The latest row comes after Harry, 34, attended Google’s ‘green summit’ in Sicily at the end of July where he gave lectures.
It was claimed Google paid for his private flights and a helicopter to a resort, where he is understood to have stayed on a super-yacht. Labour MP Teresa Pearce said: ‘Given the position they have taken publicly about being responsible on climate change, this does seem an anomaly.’
Ken Wharfe, an ex-royal protection officer who guarded Princess Diana, said: ‘Frankly, it’s hypocritical. Harry can’t be preaching about the catastrophic effects of climate change while jetting around the world on a private plane.’
Sir Elton performed at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, singing a specially reworked version of his hit song Candle In The Wind.
He was among the celebrity guests invited to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor last year.
Buckingham Palace last night declined to comment.
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