Meghan Markle and Prince Harry least eco-friendly royals despite 'woke' lifestyle, says survey
A new survey has found that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are the least eco-friendly members of the British royal family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took the bottom two spots in the survey by SaveOnEnergy -- a company whose mission is to “hook you up with a reliable energy plan at an affordable all-in rate, with full-transparency about what you’re buying” -- which evaluated the 10 most senior royals for five key environmental measures. Their contribution to the environment is not impressive thanks to their worst carbon footprint. The Sussexes’ South Africa trip equaled the same carbon footprint as an average British person releases in a year, the survey revealed as reported by The Sun.
The site calculated the scores of the members of the royal family based on their travel footprint, their support for environmental charities, their participation at environmental events, how eco-friendly their fashion are, how many of their social media posts are eco-conscious, and whether they choose electric cars or not.
Under the points system, the couple got just nine points each for positive measures from March 2019 until Megxit this year - a fraction of the 156 points Prince Charles was awarded. However, not everything was bad for Harry and Meghan as the former actress was given the first place for having the most eco-friendly wardrobe. The 39-year-old wears brands like Stella McCartney, Rothy, Veja and Millie. The SaveOnEnergy’s website stated: “Despite having been awarded points for owning an electric car and Meghan’s loyalty to sustainable fashion brands, Harry and Meghan engaged considerably less than others with environmental charities and engagements between March 2019 and 2020, which hinders their score. They also had the third worst carbon footprint of all royals studied.”
The study also revealed that Charles also did not have a proud number to maintain since he also has the worst carbon footprint because of his jet-setting lifestyle. But he still managed to be crowned the most eco-friendly royal because of his “social media posts, his support of environmental charities and his attendance at environmental engagements”. The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, was also not very far from her 71-year-old husband as she was placed second with the 84 eco-points. Unlike the Sussexes, the Cambridges were not on the same spot. Kate Middleton stood fourth overall while Prince William ranked sixth. The Queen was at the fifth position while Prince Philip was third, who scored 44 eco-points overall. “From supporting 40 environmental charities, and having an impressive carbon footprint of zero, it’s no wonder the Duke of Edinburgh has one of the best eco-friendly scores of all 10 royals considered,” the survey site noted.
Though Harry was at the bottom of the list, he has recently launched a new sustainable tour firm, Travalyst, which is “a bold new global initiative founded by Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com, TripAdvisor and Visa, with the ambition to change the impact of travel, for good,” according to its website. The site also noted that it believes “in the power and importance of travel and that we also have a shared responsibility to our planet and to each other.”
“That’s why we’re coming together as a catalyst for change. We want to be the driving force that paves a new way to travel, helping everyone explore our world in a way that protects both people and places, and secures a positive future for destinations and local communities for generations to come,” it added.