Royal Fans Slam Prince Harry for Taking a ‘Private Jet’ to China For Climate Summit: ‘What a Clown...'

Prince Harry made an unexpected visit to China on May 26 as King Charles arrived in Canada. As the Duke of Sussex made his first-ever trip to the country to host the Travalyst Executive Summit, royal watchers pointed out the obvious irony — Harry flying by a private jet to promote his ‘eco-friendly’ business.

Harry touched base in Shanghai to fulfil his co-founder role at Travalyst, an organization which promotes environmentally friendly travel. As reported by the Scottish Daily Express, the Duke addressed the Envision 2025 Global Partner Conference, urging the travel industry to make more efforts to reach its climate change targets by 2030. He said, “Now is the moment for the industry to reaffirm its commitment to being a force for good. The true measure of our commitment is how we respond when the path becomes difficult.” His ‘hypocrisy’ left royal fans fuming as Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly clocked nearly 83,000 air miles in 2024 as part of their travel for their ventures.

After photos from his Shanghai visit went viral on X (formerly Twitter), fans couldn't help but say the same thing. A royal watcher quipped, “Obviously, this is meant for poorer people who can’t afford to travel by private jets. In Harry’s case, 'for thee, not for me.'” In a similar vein, another echoed, “When Henry was asked why he flies in a private jet! His reply: Nobody is perfect! He is so arrogant.” A netizen suggested, “He can just do Zoom meetings if he cares so much about the environment.” As the comments poured in, a fan slammed, “He went to China by private jet, no doubt. What a clown.”

Others accused the Duke of trying to upstage his father’s trip to Canada. A critic commented, “It's on par with his hypocrisy and an attempt to steal his father and stepmother's engagements in Canada.” Another netizen said, “He's just competing for headlines with papa in Canada 🙄.” Meanwhile, a fan reasoned, “And how did you expect him to cover that distance? Walking?”

Harry has previously addressed the backlash over his and Markle’s repeated use of private jets to fly short distances. As reported by Cosmopolitan, in a speech announcing the launch of Travalyst in 2019, Harry said, “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 is safe, and it’s genuinely as simple as that. But as I said in my speech, for me it’s about balance.” Oddly enough, The Mirror reports that last year, Harry and Markle’s air travel equated to 33,357kg of carbon dioxide emissions, requiring 972 trees to offset the flight carbon.