Eco-Preachers Harry, Meghan Blasted For Taking Private Jet To California Before End Of Queen's Jubilee

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been criticized and accused of "enormous hypocrisy" after heading back to California from Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee using their own private jet.

Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, flew out of London with their two children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, on Sunday – just an hour before the Platinum jubilee ended. They were photographed as they arrived via private jet to Santa Barbara, Montecito.

Hello magazine described Harry and Meghan's private jet as a luxurious 12-seater Cessna. The Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign plane is said to be decked out with artistic interiors, including spacious bathrooms, mood lighting, comfortable leather seats, and onboard WiFi with executive desks. Harry and Meghan's Cessna plane's mechanics are reportedly custom-designed for "smooth and safe flights," including high functioning carbon brakes, fuel efficiency, and a powerful electrical navigation system to ensure seamless flying.

Harry and Meghan's private jet retails for around £5.2 million ($6.5 million). It is still not known whether they have purchased it themselves or if they just hired it for their journey. Daily Mail reported that the eco-preaching Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who flew on a Bombardier Global 6000 gas-guzzling jet, immediately garnered criticisms for flying the jet which can travel more than 6,000 miles without stopping.

Climate experts believe the family's decision to ride on it will have resulted in ten times more carbon being emitted than if the Sussexes had taken a commercial flight. According to chartered flight provider Paramount Business Jets, the couple's flight from Farnborough to Santa Barbara will reportedly have emitted nearly 60 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As stated in the Paris Agreement's objective of keeping global warming below 2C, each person's carbon budget should be no more than 2.1 tons per year; it means Harry and Meghan exceeded this by nearly 15 times in just one flight. The couple seemed to contradict their stand in matters of climate change by this action.

Harry previously described climate change as one of the "most pressing issues we are facing" and also told Oprah Winfrey during their tell-all interview, "We need to do better about stopping or allowing the things that are causing so much harm to so many of us at the source, rather than being distracted by the symptom."

Royal expert Tom Quinn has now accused Harry and Meghan of "enormous hypocrisy." He told The Times, "They pontificate about helping people and the planet and then they take private jets. They tell people to look after the environment and then they don't look after the environment themselves. It's enormously hypocritical."