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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Rosaleen Fenton

Harry tells people to fly less hours after boast about his and Meghan's air miles

Prince Harry today raised eyebrows after urging travellers to fly less - while Meghan Markle joked about the couple's copious amounts of air miles.

Harry previously founded Travalyst, a project aimed at improving conservation and environmental protection - and today it launched its first newsletter.

In a blog post, it suggested holidaymakers could take fewer trips, opt for economy class and pack light in a bid to be more sustainable

Meanwhile, sharing her private wedding speech for the first time, Meghan quipped about how the couple racked "up more air miles than any couple could have."

The Duke of Sussex previously defended his use of private jets, saying there are occasions he needs to keep his family safe.

Meghan joked about their copious air miles (Getty Images)
Harry has previously defended his private jet use (PA)

Harry and Meghan were previously criticised after taking four private jet journeys in 11 days, rather than opting for commercial flights.

But while launching Travalyst, the prince said "no one is perfect" and "we can all do better" when it comes to tackling environmental issues.

He added: "I came here by commercial. I spend 99 per cent of my life travelling the world by commercial.

"Occasionally there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure my family are safe and it's genuinely as simple as that."

Previously Sir Elton John said he had given them and son Archie a private flight to "maintain a high level of much-needed protection".

At the launch of Travalyst, a project aimed at improving conservation and environmental protection, Harry said what is important is "what we do to balance" out negative effects.

In his speech, he said: "We can all do better. And while no one is perfect, we are all responsible for our own individual impact; the question is what we do to balance it out." He added: "As tourism inevitably grows, it is critically important to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices worldwide; and to balance this growth with the needs of the environment and the local population."

It is unlikely the duke or other members of the royal family will stop taking private jets as security, time constraints and safety are normally put forward by royal households for travel decisions.

But it remains to be seen if there will be any further announcements about how the Duke mitigates his impact on the environment.

In his speech at Amsterdam’s iconic A’dam Tower, the duke slammed the "negative impacts of mass tourism” from Maya Bay in Thailand, made famous by the film The Beach, where its reefs have died, to Africa, where safari vehicle "traffic jams” are beginning to outnumber the wildlife.

But he stressed there were positives, adding: "Tourism can be a source of opportunity for communities that might not otherwise find it. Tourism can strengthen the local economy. Tourism drives improvements in the quality of life for so many. In some cases, it’s all they have.

"It accounts for 10% of global GDP and about one in ten jobs worldwide, figures that will continue to grow in the coming years. This is the scale of the opportunity.

"There are positive trends in the travel industry as well. Seven in ten travellers say they want more sustainable travel options.”

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