Prince William Is Not Impressed With Billionaires Blasting Off into Space
The Duke of Cambridge said that he's not a fan of commercial space tourism in a new BBC interview.
Prince William has a few words for the wealthy who are choosing to ignore climate change.
In a new televised interview with BBC Newscast, which aired yesterday, the Duke of Cambridge said that he was less than impressed with certain billionaires (ahem, Jeff Bezos) who are dedicating their finances to space exploration rather than combatting global climate change.
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"We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live," William said, per CNN. "That really is quite crucial to be focusing on this one rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future."
When asked if the prince had any desires of his own to one day travel into space, he said that his previous tenure as a pilot was enough of an experience for him.
"I have absolutely no interest in going that high. I'm a pilot, but I'm a helicopter pilot, so I stay reasonably close to the ground. I've been up to 65,000 feet once, in a plane, and that was truly terrifying. And that's high enough," William said.
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William's comments come the day after Star Trek star William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space—a trip that was funded by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin space tourism company. The Amazon CEO flew into space himself back in July, while fellow billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk are also working to expand "commercial space tourism."
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William has long been an advocate for greener living and vocalizing the importance of environmental preservation. So much so that the Duke of Cambridge recently launched the Earthshot Prize, an annual effort that over the next 10 year will award "five, one million-pound ($1.2 million) prizes to individuals, organizations, charities, scientists, activists, and those around the world who are working to provide solutions to the world’s biggest environmental problems."
This article originally appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US