Prince Charles Criticised for TransAtlantic Award Pick Up

The Prince of Wales is flying to the U.S. to collect a "green" award - accompanied by his wife and an entourage of of more than 13 staff and bodyguards. The royal flight is expected to take up all of first class and some business class seats. Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are taking a scheduled flight to the States, rather than the usual practice of chartering a more expensive private jet. Prince Charles is collecting an award as environmental citizen of the year but the weekend trip to Philadelphia and New York sparked an eco row after green campaigners criticised his decision to pick up the accolade in person. Environment Secretary David Miliband suggested Charles should be receiving the prize via video-link rather than making a 7,000-mile round trip. "Was it a particularly heavy award?" Mr Miliband remarked. Climate change action group Plane Stupid, which campaigns against aircraft carbon emissions, accused the Prince of "green hypocrisy".