Royal rebel: Prince Harry risked Queen’s fury with protocol breach for Meghan Markle
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have faced huge criticism for flying by private luxury jets twice in a week, despite telling their fans to be more environmentally conscious The couple flew to Ibiza for six days to celebrate Meghan’s 38th birthday last week. They then returned to the UK before jetting off to Nice, in the French Riviera.
Labour MP Teresa Pearse called out the couple, saying they should lead by example.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “Given the position they have taken publicly about being responsible on climate change, this does seem an anomaly which they should look at.
“It’s up to all of us to cut our carbon emissions, and the number of flights we take a year.
“That is really important and someone as high profile as that should lead by example.”
It is not the first time the couple has been at the centre of controversy because of their travels, though.
During the early stages of their relationship, Prince Harry risked infuriating his grandmother, the Queen, after breaching royal protocol for Meghan.
According to a 2016 report by the Daily Telegraph, the Duke of Sussex flew to Canada to see his then-girlfriend, rather than returning to London after his Caribbean tour.
However, the report says, Kensington Palace had explicitly stated that the Prince had to fly straight back to London at the end of the tour, because he had public engagements in the UK.
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Instead, the Prince reportedly cancelled his seat on the British Airways flight home, and made a 1,700-mile detour to Toronto to see Meghan, who at the time was working as an actress for the popular TV show Suits.
His trip was in contravention of official Palace policy that working visits should not be combined with personal business and even though the Prince reportedly paid for his own ticket to Canada, the cost of diverting at least one police protection officer to Toronto to guard him was met by the taxpayer.
The report says: “The Prince’s decision to visit Miss Markle, whom he had not seen for three weeks, defied the official Royal Household policy that members of the Royal Family should not combine personal trips with official business.
“In 2004, after the Duke of York had been criticised for combining official business with golfing breaks, the Royal Household assured the National Audit Office that such behaviour would stop.
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“The Royal Household said at the time: ‘Members of the Royal Family are entitled to grant-in-aid for official travel, as are their staff and, where capacity permits, other officials.’
“‘They meet their own costs, however, for private travel. In order to avoid confusion, combining private and public engagements in the same trip is actively discouraged.'”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have now been married for over a year.
In May, they welcomed to the world their first son, Archie Harrison, who was seen traveling with his parents in Ibiza and France this month.
It is said to be the baby’s first holiday abroad.
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