With Prince Charles making an impassioned speech at COP26 about tackling the climate crisis, we take a look at what the British royal family are doing to help the environment at their royal homes. From solar panels at Prince Charles' home to a huge hydroelectric turbine at Her Majesty's residence, discover the very best eco features at these royal houses…
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Prince Charles' solar panels at Clarence House
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall live in London
The Prince of Wales is renowned for his environmental passion projects and his official website explains: "Around half of his office and domestic energy use comes from renewable sources such as woodchip boilers, air-source heat pumps, solar panels and 'green' electricity." In 2011, Prince Charles had 5.6kW solar power system installed on his London residence, Clarence House.
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Prince Harry's eco energy at Frogmore Cottage
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrince Harry made big house changes before moving to the US
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lived in the UK, they completely renovated their family home of Frogmore Cottage, which included an eco overhaul. An environmentally friendly boiler was installed to provide hot water and low-carbon heat, and it is reported by The Sun to have cost £50,000. As Princess Eugenie now lives in the property, along with her husband Jack Brooksbank and their newborn son August, she is the royal able to make use of this modern feature.
The Queen's water turbine at Balmoral
© Photo: Getty ImagesBalmoral Castle is set for more eco improvements
Balmoral Castle, the Queen's summer home, already has one hydroelectric turbine in place, and Her Majesty has also been granted permission to build an additional two-megawatt generator on the River Muick to generate up to £650,000 of green power a year to make the property entirely self-sufficient. It is believed that any surplus electricity will be sold on to the National Grid.
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Windsor Castle is also powered by hydroelectricity through two turbines on the River Thames. This saves Her Majesty 40 percent on her annual electricity bill!
The Queen's smart meters
The first step of improving your energy consumption is being aware of it, which is why the monarch has installed a "network of over 60 smart meters across the estate" which enables "areas for improvement to be identified and targeted", as the official royal website explains.
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