Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been blasted for being climate change hypocrites after taking two private jet trips in one week.
The backlash began after pictures emerged of the royal couple boarding a 12-seater Cessna with their son in Nice, on the French Riviera on Saturday, The Sun reported.
The flights to the U.K. and back in the Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign jet—which costs around $24,000 to hire—would have generated seven times more carbon emissions per person than a standard commercial flight, ITV reported.
The pair have previously been outspoken about environmental issues, with Prince Harry recently warning of the "terrifying" impacts of climate change at a youth-empowerment event in July known as WE Day.
On Saturday, Teresa Pearce, an MP from the opposition Labour Party in the U.K. parliament criticized the royal couple for their flying habits.
"Given the position they have taken publicly about being responsible on climate change, this does seem an anomaly which they should look at," she told The Sun. "It's up to all of us to cut our carbon emissions, and the number of flights we take a year. That is really important—and someone as high profile as that should lead by example."
"I find this quite surprising because it doesn't fit with their public image and the way they're so concerned about the planet and the environment," Pearce said.
Ken Wharfe, an ex-royal protection officer who guarded Princess Diana, echoed Pearce's sentiments in comments given to MailOnline saying: "Frankly it's hypocritical. Harry can't be preaching about the catastrophic effects of climate change while jetting around the world on a private plane."
The royal couple have now been on four private jet trips in the space of 11 days. Before visiting the south of France, the family took a trip to the Spanish island of Ibiza.
In his WE Day speech Prince Harry said that we have been "far too slow in waking up" to climate change, warning that we must take urgent action to address it.
'We now have the facts, the science, the technology and the ability to save not just our planet but ourselves," he said. "You don't just sit back and wait for solutions, you take action and create them."
In an Instagram post in July, Prince Harry said: "With nearly 7.7 billion people inhabiting this Earth, every choice, every footprint, every action makes a difference."
And just two weeks ago, an interview was published in Vogue Magazine in which the prince revealed that the couple would limit themselves to having two children in an effort to mitigate their carbon footprint.
