EnviroSpin Watch

His Right Royal Hypocrite, the Prince of Wails.....

As a down-to-earth Lancashire lad from around about the moors of 'Owdham', I'm absolutely fed up to the back o' me settle at being constantly lectured by toffs and trustafarians on the 'enwiro(n)ment'. "Oh! It's all hemp this season, Tanny!" "Do you take organic 'Hypwericum', Tonya!" "And all those howible people on those howible cheap flights polluting the plwanet and spoiling Pwositano!"

But the Prince of Wales takes the oatcake.

Here is the Prince on last Sunday's CBS show, 60 Minutes, interviewed by Steve Kroft: "If you look at the latest figures on climate change and global warming, it's terrifying."

And here is the Prince's and Camilla's 'American Odyssey': a chartered Boeing 757 flying from London to New York, then to Washington, New Orleans, Marin County, San Francisco [The Guardian please note, not 'San Fransisco'], and back to London = at least 440 tonnes of CO₂. And the circus troupe? Two private secretaries; a communications secretary; an Equerry ("No, you can't invest in one!"); a butler; a doctor; two valets; and for the Duchess, a make-up artist, an hairdresser, and a personal dresser; then, three luggage assistants... His Royal Motto should be: "Ad Infinitum". "Ich Dien", my.....

And then there is the Prince of Angst's cloying self-pity: "I only hope when I'm dead and gone they might appreciate it a little bit more."

Thus, in the immortal words of The Miami Herald re this American rodeo: "...a couple of middle-aged, earnest [Edwardian - my addition] eccentrics from the English countryside take an educational holiday abroad."

Now, you won't often witness me agreeing with good old George, but this is Our Very Own Monbiot on the Prince, as reported by the BBC:

"Environmental campaigner and writer George Monbiot told the BBC that the prince was the second biggest carbon user in the country, after his mother, and he should take action himself.

He said he would have given Prince Charles more credit if he had pledged to 'get rid' of his private plane and helicopter, as well as move into a smaller house 'rather than using two homes which use about the same amount of energy as a medium sized town.'"

I must do a blog sometime in the near future on the class origins of our our leading 'enwironmentalists' (including the newly-Greening David Cameron) - no wonder they want to pay more for everything.

By contrast, I have a genuine admiration for the dedication and the sense of duty of The Queen, who has most wisely spared us her personal feelings and views. But, if Charles ever gets anywhere near to the throne, then, for me, it will have to be:

"Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons."

Philip, coffee at Le Café République?