COP26 Climate Summit

Queen Praises Charles and William, Omits Harry in Address to COP26 as She Urges Leaders to Act

The monarch was supposed to attend the event herself, but was forced to skip it due to doctors' medical advice. The 95-year-old was told to rest for a few weeks and refrain from conducting royal engagements. The advice came following her admission to King Edward VII's Hospital for what the Palace described as "preliminary investigations".
Sputnik
Queen Elizabeth II has praised Prince Charles and Prince William in an address to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, which is being held in Glasgow, Scotland. Speaking to over 200 world leaders in a pre-recorded message, the monarch paid tribute to her late husband Philip’s campaign to preserve the environment¸ which she said has been continued by her eldest son and grandson.

"It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. I could not be more proud of them", the Queen said.

The monarch then urged world leaders to "rise above politics of the moment" and "achieve true statesmanship" by agreeing on how to deal with the issue of climate change.

"Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today: none of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children, and those who will follow in their footsteps", the Queen said.

Royal pundits quickly noticed that she omitted her other grandson, Prince Harry, who, together with his wife Meghan Markle, has been vocal about the need to protect the environment. In 2019, the Duke of Sussex said climate change is the most pressing problem the world faces alongside mental health.

Recently, however, the Sussexes were accused of hypocrisy after it became known that they backed a Wall Street fund that invests in oil and gas.
Few members of the royal family can brag about being eco-friendly, including those mentioned by the Queen. A survey compiled by the company SaveOnEnergy revealed that Prince Charles, heir to the throne, tops the chart of the most "toxic" royals. The future king produced an estimated nine tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2019 while travelling in order to conduct royal engagements. Ironically, among his visits were events, aimed at improving the environment.

Prince William, who established a global prize "designed to incentivize change and help repair our planet", is the second-worst royal polluter, with the Duke of Cambridge producing an estimated five tonnes of CO2.

Prince William was followed by his brother Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle, while the most eco-friendly royals were the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip.
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