Queen Elizabeth II Makes Surprising Move To Control Prince Harry's Decisions
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were heavily blasted over the past few months for their travels, a situation that raised fears that the couple is becoming more "celebrities" instead of "royals."
Because of this, Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly taken control of some aspects of his life, particularly travelling to ensure that their future travels will be "efficient" and "cost-effective."
Queen Elizabeth II is hiring a Director of Travel for the Sussexes after they reportedly flew privately four times in 11 days last August. A royal biographer noted that 11 days was the tipping point for many and that by doing so, many have even said they "crossed that celebrity line."
Patrick Lacey is the current Director of Travel since 2011.
What Does a Royal Director of Travel Do?
According to Express, the Director of Travel's role will include arranging "appropriate travel services for the official duties of Members of the Royal Family and their Households, including 'air travel,' and 'Royal train trips'" -- which has previously cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds.
The position comes with a $109,746 salary annually.
The successful applicant will be based in Buckingham Palace working 37.5 hours weekly and will manage the taxpayer-funded royal travel for the Queen and other royal family members.
Other skills should include good understanding of aviation safety auditing, negotiating and resolving conflicting demands.
However, the most essential role of this position is to "research and negotiate value for money contracts and options for travel."
According to Daily Mail's source, it will be a crucial part of the role after recent royal accounts revealed the family has spent almost $6 million last year on traveling.
"This is a very senior position, looking after a very important part of household operations. It's an essential part of the role that candidates are able to plan the right travel options and negotiate value for money contracts."
Prince Harry, Meghan Hypocrites?
Prince Harry and Meghan's travel choices were met with a lot of criticism since the duo generally preaches about being "environmentally-conscious. They even speak about climate change issues, so many found them to be hypocritical.
Since they flew to Sir Elton John's home in Nice, France back in August, the singer quickly came to their defense, saying that he provided his own private plane for the couple's trip to France.
Latest account revealed that the family's carbon footprint doubled last year from their official travels, to 3344 tons of carbon dioxide.
"To support Prince Harry's commitment to the environment, we ensured their flight was carbon neutral, by making the appropriate contribution to Carbon Footprint," Sir Elton John explained in a statement.
During the launch of an eco-tourism project, "Travalyst," Prince Harry insisted that he came to the event flying commercial. He also emphasized that he is spending 99 percent of his life traveling by commercial plane, except during rare circumstances.
"Occasionally, there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure that my family is safe. It's genuinely as simple as that," Prince Harry said.
Numerous experts have weighed in with their thoughts on the couple's behavior.
Angela Levin, a royal biographer, shared that Prince Harry and Meghan's challenge is their "ambitions and passions," saying, "to use their fortunate position to make a change, without appearing to take advantage of it. There's no doubt that their intentions are good, but the optics, of late, have been unfortunate."
