Rumors and reports have been swirling around the Greek media for weeks that Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children traveled to the “enchanting” island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea in July to enjoy a weeklong vacation of swimming and lazing in the sun.
It normally wouldn’t be that much of an issue for the heir to the British throne to take his family on summer vacation. But even pro-royal experts have raised concerns over the Prince and Princess of Wales being so secretive about the trip, and have shared that they used travel methods that don’t align with Williams’ leadership of the Earthshot Prize, a global effort to address climate change and find ways to stop destruction of the environment.
On the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential YouTube show, correspondents Rebecca English and Richard Eden confirmed reports that William, Kate, their children and her parents, Carole and Mike Middleton, traveled to Greece on a private jet and that the family spent a week cruising around Kefalonia on someone’s private super yacht.
“You know we’ve sat here in this program and criticized Harry and Megan for their use of private jets,” Eden said. “So we certainly wouldn’t want to be seen to be hypocritical by not mentioning the method of travel that William and Catherine might use.”
Eden then acknowledged reports that William and Kate used a private jet to get to Greece, to which the show’s moderator, Jo Elvin, said: “That’s an interesting juxtaposition with the Earthshot Prize, isn’t it?”
Private jets are widely known to be bad for the environment, with the European advocacy group, Transport and Environment, reporting in 2021 that private planes are five to 14 times as polluting as commercial planes on a per-passenger basis, and 50 times as polluting as trains.
So, William and Kate have opened themselves up to being called eco-hypocrites, a term that has long attached itself to his brother, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle. Harry and Meghan have long faced blowback for their use of private jets, even as Harry has a side gig being the founder of Travalyst, a nonprofit that encourages people to use sustainable methods of travel.
But what might be even more problematic for William and Kate is that they reportedly spent the trip cruising around the azure waters of Kefalonia on a luxury super yacht, according to the Daily Mail, citing reports from the Greek media.
In a 2023 column for The Guardian, an environmental expert slammed super yachts, such as those owned by Russian oligarchs or American billionaires, as “environmentally indefensible.” This expert, Chris Thompson, a professor at the University of Southampton in the U.K., also said they should be banned.
“First and foremost, owning a mega-yacht is the most polluting activity a single person can possibly engage in,” Thompson wrote. “The bulk of these emissions happen whether or not a yacht actually travels anywhere. Simply owning one — or indeed building one — is an act of enormous climate vandalism.”
Another PR problem for William and Kate is that the yacht’s owner has not been identified. Among locals, “speculation was rife” about which yacht they sailed on and who got to play their host, the Daily Mail reported.
“It’s owned by a Microsoft tycoon, a billionaire tech guy,” a taxi driver told a Daily Mail reporter. Meanwhile, stories circulated in the Greek media that William and Kate enjoyed the largesse of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a prominent member of the UAE royal family, the Daily Mail also said. The sheikh’s $450 million “mega-yacht,” named Opera, is said to be one of the most opulent private vessels in the world.
But the fact that the British media was left in the dark about the couple’s foreign trip, when William is the future head of state, is yet another issue, according to the Daily Mail journalists.
“So they they want to have a private holiday, but I think they also don’t want it to be reported, even after the event, which makes things difficult,” Eden said. He pointed out that it was naive of the couple to think their presence wouldn’t become known and leaked to the Greek press. But he also said, “You know it’s it’s very hard then to have nothing in the in the British papers.”
Columnist Richard Kay said he understands William’s desire for privacy, but said he risks “crossing” a line in which he and Kate are “moving into areas of censorship to try and protect their privacy at all costs.”
As Elvin pointed out, William and Kate also are public figures, while Kay explained that it has been a tradition for the monarch or their heirs to let the media know where they are going on vacation and to even do a photo call once their reach their destinations. After that, the press will leave them to enjoy their vacation.
Kay also said, “there is an element of cost” to the British taxpayer because “we pay for the protection officers who go with them. We pick up their bills and pay their salaries.”
Originally Published:
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