British Prince Charles has left on a visit to the United States where he will highlight the government efforts to fight global warming. Charles and his wife Camilla took a British Airways flight for Philadelphia, with the couple and their staff using all the first class and some business class seats, the Press Association news agency said Friday.
The couple were traveling aboard a commercial flight after Clarence House announced sweeping changes to the royal household's travel plans as part of the fight against global warming.
On Sunday, Charles will receive the Global Environmental Citizen Award from Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment.
He will receive the award from last year's recipient, former US vice president Al Gore.
"The prince's visit will emphasize the importance which the UK Government places on climate change as a key international priority," aides at Clarence House said earlier this month.
His visit will also focus on youth development, urban regeneration and environmental conservation, they added.
The two-day trip is the couple's second to the United States.
They spent a week in New York, Washington, New Orleans and San Francisco in November 2005, shortly after their wedding in April that year.
During his last trip, Prince Charles urged the US government to use its immense power to fight climate change.
US President George W. Bush, who has long been criticized for his refusal to back the Kyoto Treaty on greenhouse gas reduction, pledged during his state of the union speech this week to develop alternative sources of energy and called for Americans to cut oil consumption by a fifth over the decade.
A source close to Prince Charles said a week ago that he was skipping his annual ski holiday to Switzerland in order to lighten his "carbon footprint."
The Daily Telegraph reported that the prince was forced to cancel his holiday after environmental groups accused him of "green hypocrisy" with his plans to travel by plane to pick up the award in New York.
