William Shatner fires back at Prince William for dissing space race

William Shatner, fresh from his Blue Origin mission, fired back at the environmentally conscious royal, saying he has “the wrong idea”.

William Shatner, who last week became the oldest person to travel to the edge of the cosmos on Jeff Bezos’ rocket, has blasted Prince William for boldly going off on space tourism.

The Duke of Cambridge made his disparaging comments when he spoke to the BBC about his initiative to “repair our planet.”

“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” the future monarch said.

Shatner, 90, who famously played Captain Kirk in the original “Star Trek” TV series, fired back at the royal — albeit diplomatically.

Prince William on BBC podcast Picture: Supplied

William Shatner says he hopes Prince William “gets the message” Picture: AFP

“He’s a lovely Englishman. He’s going to be king of England one day,” Shatner told Entertainment Tonight. “He’s a lovely, gentle, educated man, but he’s got the wrong idea.”

Shatner, who travelled to the edge of space along with three other passengers aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-18, told the outlet that the brief hop was really about protecting our planet as opposed to finding another spot for humanity.

(L-R) Blue Origins’ Audrey Powers, Star Trek actor William Shatner, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen and Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries. Picture: AFP

“The idea here is not to go, ‘Yeah, look at me. I’m in space.’ The landing that consumed all that … energy and people to take a look and go, ‘Oh, look at that.’ No,” Shatner told ET.

“I would tell the prince, and I hope the prince gets the message, this is a baby step into the idea of getting industry up there, so that all those polluting industries, especially, for example, the industries that make electricity … off of Earth,” he said.

“We’ve got all the technology, the rockets, to send the things up there … You can build a base 250, 280 miles above the Earth and send that power down here, and they catch it, and they then use it, and it’s there. All it needs is … somebody as rich as Jeff Bezos [to say], ‘Let’s go up there,’” Shatner continued.

“The prince is missing the point. The point is these are the baby steps to show people [that] it’s very practical. You can send somebody like me up into space,” said the actor, who agreed with the prince’s argument that there are matters to be addressed on Earth.

“So fix some of the stuff down here, but we can curl your hair and put lotion on your face at the same time,” he said.

PRINCE WILLIAM SLAMS SPACE RACE

Prince William has belittled the recent frenzy of space tourism after Star Trek’s William Shatner dipped into space for ten minutes on Jeff Bezos’ rocket.

The Duke of Cambridge was speaking to the BBC about his initiative to “repair our planet” and encouraged billionaires to get their heads out of the clouds.

“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” the prince said.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge during a Generation Earthshot educational initiative comprising of activities designed to generate ideas to repair the planet. Picture: AFP

Shatner’s journey to space was the latest flight by Bezos’s Blue Origin venture.

The Amazon billionaire is competing with Richard Branson and Tesla’s Elon Musk to turn space into a lucrative tourism industry.

According to the New York Post, the prince said it was “quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.”

William also mentioned “climate anxiety” among the new generations who believe their “futures are basically threatened the whole time.”

“It’s very unnerving and it’s very, you know, anxiety making,” he said.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is part of an initiative to help spark a lasting enthusiasm for the natural world. Picture: Getty Images

The foundation supported by Prince William and Kate Middleton will award the Earthshot Prize to five individuals who can help solve the oncoming crisis of climate change.

Shatner’s foray into space on Wednesday hoisted him and the crew more than 100 kilometres above Earth. The capsule spent about three minutes in zero gravity above the Karman Line — which is the internationally recognised boundary of space — before heading back to Earth.

Star Trek actor William Shatner (R) smiles as Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen after the Blue Origins launch. Picture: AFP

The 90-year-old Shatner — who played the U.S.S. Enterprise’s Captain James T. Kirk in the science fiction saga — joins Branson, Musk, and tourists who shelled out millions of dollars to reach the sky’s limit.

Although Branson is knighted and Captain Kirk “boldly” made the quest, the final frontier should not expect a royal visit anytime soon.

Prince William said he had “absolutely no interest” in making the trek and questioned the carbon footprint of the pricey flight.

The Blue Origin launch into space lasted 10 minutes but the gases and particles released by the flight have a potentially negative impact on the stratosphere. Picture: AFP

“While there are a number of environmental impacts resulting from the launch of space vehicles, the depletion of stratospheric ozone is the most studied and most immediately concerning,” wrote Jessica Dallas, a senior policy adviser at the New Zealand Space Agency, in an 2020 analysis of research on space launch emissions.

PM GOING TO GLOBAL CLIMATE SUMMIT

The Prime Minister has confirmed he will travel to Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference.

Scott Morrison made the announcement on Friday, but said the government was still finalising its position to take to the summit.

“We’re working through those issues with our colleagues and I look forward to those discussions over the next couple of weeks,” he said.

Mr Morrison’s confirmation comes after weeks of dodging whether he would be the Australian official at the climate summit –regarded as the most important global climate change discussions since COP21 in Paris in 2015.

As for what target he will present in Glasgow, Mr Morrison said the position had yet to be decided.

The announcement comes as the Coalition remains divided on a climate policy, with the Nationals Party pushing back on net-zero due to concerns about the regions.

Mr Morrison said net-zero is nothing new, as the government had agreed to it back in Paris.

“The plan that I am taking forward with my colleagues is about ensuring that our regions are strong, that our regions jobs are not only protected, but have opportunities for the future,” he said.

“It is not just about hitting net zero.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Gary Ramage / NCA NewsWire

The announcement comes as the Queen has taken aim at world leaders who are paying lip service to climate action.

She was discussing the upcoming Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow with the Duchess of Cornwall and politician Elin Jones at the opening of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, when her remarks were picked up on the event’s live steam.

The monarch, who is set to attend the climate conference along with other senior royals, said: “Extraordinary isn’t it... I’ve been hearing all about Cop... still don’t know who is coming... no idea.

“We only know about people who are not coming... It’s really irritating when they talk, but they don’t do.”

Miss Jones replied: “Exactly. It’s a time for doing... and watching your grandson [Prince William] on the television this morning saying there’s no point going to space, we need to save the Earth.”

World leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, are yet to confirm whether they will attend Cop26.