The Prince of Wales, who is known for advocating the protection of the environment and for giving tough talk about climate change, recently earned himself the title "serial hypocrite" for boarding a helicopter last weekend.
Prince Charles called for the helicopter to fly him to a polo match held at the Guards Polo Club, 63 miles away from his official residence.
It was estimated that the aircraft travelled 411 miles as it took a total of four trips, bringing Prince Charles to and from his destination that day. It has likewise consumed 200 gallons of aviation fuel.
Reports say that if only Prince Charles had travelled by car, then it would have only taken him less than two hours, and only four gallons of petrol consumption.
The heir to the throne is famous for convincing the public to reduce their carbon footprint. Early this year, as the UK President of the World Wildlife Fund, he urged people to switch off lights in order to save energy in observance of the Earth Hour. Recently, he made a declaration that "mankind must go green or die."
However, people have become dubious of his being an environmentalist. "Charles is a serial hypocrite. There is no justification for flying around in helicopters," was the reaction of Graham Smith, leader of an anti-monarchy pressure group called Republic. Smith says Prince Charles cannot convince people to cut down on their use of fuel if he goes around the country in a helicopter.
Apart from this incident, there had already been occasions before where the monarch's green-loving attitude has been questioned because his words and actions became contradictory. In 2010, he earned criticisms when he rode the royal train going to UK to talk about sustainable life and to promote the benefits of cycling and walking.
Clarence House, the British Monarchy's official residence in London, released a statement regarding the Prince's use of the helicopter. It said: "The charitable engagement at Guards Polo Club was fitted into a packed diary at relatively short notice. The Prince had a number of personal commitments after a heavy week of public engagements and his mode of transport was chosen so that no one was let down and limited time available could be maximised." The statement went on to explain that, "The Prince of Wales carries out over 650 public engagements a year. A number of factors are taken into consideration when deciding which form of travel to use... including security, punctuality and logistics."
