Prince Harry is launching a new global sustainable travel initiative following controversy about his own private jet usage.
The 34-year-old announced the project on Tuesday morning, while also addressing his family’s private jet impact from earlier this summer.
Related: William & Kate Fly Commercial With The Kids Amid Harry & Meghan’s Scandal!
The new father bluntly shared with the Amsterdam audience during a Q&A session:
“I came here by commercial. I spend 99% of my life traveling the world by commercial. Occasionally, there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure my family are safe and it’s genuinely as simple as that.”
At the beginning of his speech, Harry — who arrived in the Netherlands on Monday via commercial flight — joked with the crowd about his many sleepless nights thanks to baby Archie:
“Having spent last night here — I don’t know about you guys but it was definitely the best nights’ sleep I’ve had for the last four months!”
Harry’s new project, Travalyst, will encourage more sustainable travel practices and aim to improve conservation, community economic development, and environmental protection, according to a Buckingham Palace statement.
During his speech, the Duke of Sussex shared:
“We can all do better and while no one is perfect, we all have a responsibility for our own individual impact. The question is what we do to balance it out. What is clear across this vast landscape is that our world faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scope and scale. These human-caused challenges often need a giant system shift to make a significant enough impact. And that is what this partnership is here to try and do.”
This new partnership and Harry’s apology come after he and Meghan Markle came under criticism for using private jets to fly on private jets at least six times in the span of just a few days, despite regularly speaking out on environmental issues.
The couple reportedly took a five or six day trip to Ibiza (with their son in tow) for Meghan’s birthday a couple weeks ago, followed up by a trip to the South of France a few days later. But Elton John quickly came to the defense of the royal family — who had become subject to bad press because of their carbon footprint — explaining it was his money which paid for one of the jets they took.
While it’s unclear if Travalyst was already in the works before their summer holidays, or if this is something new which is being launched out of controversy, it seems like he’s genuinely interested in making an impact!
What do U think about Harry’s new initiative, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF (below) in the comments with all your thoughts!!
[Image via Dutch Press Photo/WENN.]
Related Posts
