Meghan and Prince Harry caught out in awkward new US pictures
Pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s triumphant return to LA after their NYC trip have emerged – and they prove an awkward truth.
You have to hand it to Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: They’re consistent.
That is, consistent in their seeming unwillingness to bow to any sort of public pressure or public feeling when it comes to the more extravagant elements of their lives.
Or perhaps the more apt adjective is, impervious to criticism because today, again, the Sussexes, for whom climate change is a key philanthropic focus, are facing accusations of hypocrisy after indulging in their penchant for private jet travel.
Deja vu anyone?
In 2019, the couple sparked the initial Private Jet-gate after Harry gave a speech, reportedly barefoot, about the climate threat at a conference of Wall Street and Silicon Valley powerbrokers, after which the couple promptly took four private jets in 11 days as they zipped around Europe on holidays.
Awkward then when Harry weeks later went to Amsterdam to launch his eco-travel initiative, Travelyst.
The duo then proceed to stick to their (expensive) guns since. In March last year they arrived in Los Angeles via Tyler Perry’s $205 million Embraer-E190 jet and in August, Harry travelled to a charity polo match in Aspen via US businessman Marc Ganzi’s 20-seater $84 million Gulfstream.
Now today, pictures have emerged of the couple on the tarmac after landing in Los Angeles after their three day trip to New York via, you guessed it, private jet.
Clearly, two years of regular press and social media clamouring about this double standard seems to have had zero impact on their decision-making (last year, research by Save On Energy named the Sussexes as the least eco-friendly members of the royal house).
Never mind that there are more than 300 direct flights daily between the two cities every day; never mind that Harry, in the past, travelled domestically in the US on commercial flights including, gasp, in economy.
Harry and Meghan seem to have absolutely zero interest in making any sort of concession on this particular front, resolutely sticking to their “do as we say, not as we fly” approach.
The stunning irony here is that one of the very reasons that the self-exiled members of the royal family had been in New York was to attend the Global Citizen Live concert where they called for vaccine equality.
Another goal of the celebrity-filled event? Calling on the US to half its emissions and for the world’s wealthy nations to help developing countries go green.
Sigh. Living authentic lives would not seem to involve much repenting of ways.
And here this story would stop, with Harry and Meghan looking like hypocrites, again except for the fact that at the same time, Harry’s father and brother have been making serious waves, launching a pair of dynamic conservation and climate change initiatives.
Last week, it was announced that Prince William had teamed up with the legendary Sir David Attenborough for a TV series called The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet and then on Saturday, the trailer for the five-parter hit the internet.
“This is a moment for hope, not fear,” William says to the camera.
“Just imagine, what might be possible,” Sir David says in his trademark lilt.
Far from the stock standard mournful polar bear and crumbling icecap footage, audiences are treated to a 26-second trailer that is so uplifting and invigorating it will make you have the urge to go and sort your recycling.
But, William’s not the only Windsor getting into the TV game.
Also on Saturday, it was revealed that Prince Charles has launched a new environmental channel on Amazon Prime, saying “I’ve spent a lot of my lifetime trying to engage people and businesses with the issues and solutions of the climate crisis.”
Both of these outings are engaging, positive and about empowering everyday people to take action.
And both of these projects cast Harry and Meghan’s private jetting and their New York trip in stark relief.
For three days, the Sussexes took the Big Apple with a series of photo ops that saw them striding in and out of official buildings, including the UN and the WHO, carrying important-
looking folders. (No one tell the couple that while they got to meet with the Deputy Secretary-general of the UN, celebrities from Gangnam Style’s Psy to Angelina Jolie to teenage Umbrella Academy actor Aiden Gallagher have gotten facetime with actual Secretary Generals.)
All the while, it has come out, they were being trailed by a videographer, with reports they are filming a Netflix documentary about their lives.
With the dust now having settled and the blacked out Range Rovers they travelled in lying idle, this quasi-royal tour they threw themselves just feels disappointingly hollow. Did they announce any new projects or initiatives? Meet with local green groups or support grassroots organisations trying to find solutions?
Sadly not.
It is hard to escape the impression that the whole thing, all the puffed up bells and whistles, were about aggressively marketing themselves to the US.
While they might be all bells and whistles, contrast that with Charles and William, two men who generally come across as prosaic plodders sadly lacking in innate charisma. Instagram catnip they might not be but they are both emerging as much more creative and interesting leaders on climate change than they get credit for.
William’s Earthshot Prize is not some piffling trophy that gets handed out; it’s goal is “to mobilise collective action around our unique ability to innovate, problem solve and repair our planet”. The first shortlist for the award, announced earlier this month, includes 14-year-old Indian activist Vinisha Umashankar who has designed a solar-powered ironing cart (there are ten-million coal-burning irony carts now); solar-powered technology in Nigeria to make electricity more affordable to poor communities and a project in Kenya which converts human waste into safe products for farmers.
None of this is sexy or cool or made for Instagram. But these are all powerful solutions that can make a very tangible impact on the real world.
Likewise Charles’ Amazon Prime move. Again, the focus is not on woe-is-us doomsaying but on energising audiences to get involved and play their part.
These two versions of royal work, one that seems to have such a focus on image, the other unassuming but rooted in real world actions, might only become more pronounced in the months and years to come.
Harry and Meghan’s New York trip was essentially them firing the starting gun on their US careers after having to wait out pandemic lockdowns followed by the duo taking parental leave after the birth of their daughter Lili in early June.
A source, speaking to The Sun, said that the palace “won’t be impressed with Harry and Meghan acting as quasi-royals and courting publicity after claiming they quit for privacy.
“This will be a regular thing and not just in the US.”
All of which raises the prospect of … more private jets.
Still, there is one other thing those shots of Harry and Meghan reveal, something quite tender and lovely. The man looks happy.
There they are, hugging staff, a touching move you would never see William or Kate doing in public, and looking pleased as punch. In fact, such a natural show of affection epitomises how far they have come and the extent to which they are now free to behave how they want.
Beyond that, while the path the Sussexes seem to be on, one where they are trailed by Netflix cameras and seem perpetually focused on selling themselves, might ring a tad more hollow than the one his father and brother are walking, but, if there is one big bright spot here, it’s that it Harry seems so much more joyful.
On Saturday, the Sussexes visited a Harlem school and photos of him charming and chatting to the kids felt very like we were seeing the return of Old Harry. His larkiness and obvious joy at being surrounded by second-graders made for a refreshing change after months and months of him popping up on screens and looking continually sour or sombre.
And this is why they left after all. Nearly two years ago, Meghan told the world “it’s not enough to just survive something … You’ve got to thrive, you’ve got to feel happy.”
The Sussexes’ lives might now be far more Hollywood than Holyrood House, more brand-building than Buckingham Palace, more sound bites than Sandringham, however, at least they seem to be thriving.
Now, the planet on the other hand, well, not so much …
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years experience working with
a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
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