At least Prince Harry was probably politer than his grandfather.
But the young Prince waded into his first controversy of his US tour when he reportedly echoed Prince Philip's views on the unsightliness of wind farms at the reception in Denver he attended last night where he met Missy Franklin.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph today, Harry told Susan Reilly, chief executive officer of Renewable Energy Systems Americas, that he was concerned about the 'visual impact' of the green energy devices. I love the way the royals go straight to the top.
Creating a sure sense of deja vu for Ms Reilly was the fact that she had a similar conversation with Prince Charles several years ago.
She might start thinking the Royal family has got something against new ways of doing things at this rate.
She told a reporter: "Prince Harry said he was worried about their visual impact, I told him that I had met his father some years ago and when we discussed wind farms he shared his concerns. But as with Prince Charles, I pointed out that we need to strike a balance between their visual impact and the need for renewable energy for future generations."
When Prince Philip waded into the debate on wind farms in 2011, he did so in his own frank and inimitable style, describing them as “absolutely useless” and “a disgrace.”
Prince Philip, made his remarks directly to the managing director of a leading wind-farm company, Esbjorn Wilmar, of Infinergy at a London reception.
“He said they were absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies, and an absolute disgrace,” said Wilmar at the time. “I was surprised by his very frank views.”
When Wilmar suggested Philip might like to place some windmills on his estates, he was told to 'stay away' from his property. Philip also accused Wilmar of believing in 'fairy stories'.
Harry's forthright comments will be seized on by anti-wind-farm campaigners around the world, who claim that the giant modern windmills, which can be up to 400 feet tall, are a costly, inefficient, and noisy way of producing electricity.
In 2010 wind power accounted for 2.3 percent of the electricity generated in America, but the target is for up to 20 percent of power in the U.S. to be produced in this way by 2020.
