Queen Elizabeth's Personal Opinion on Big Political Issue Overheard

Queen Elizabeth II does not share her personal opinions with the public, but she was overheard sharing her thoughts on climate change this week in a private conversation. On Thursday, the queen was recorded speaking with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Senedd's presiding officer Elin Jones about the upcoming Cop26 summit in Glasgow and how she is "irritated" by the lack of progress made on climate change.

"I've been hearing all about Cop. Still don't know who is coming ... no idea," the queen was heard saying, The Telegraph reports. "We only know about people who are not coming ... and it's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do," she said of world leaders not doing their part to take care of the environment. Jones responded, "Exactly, and it's a time for doing, and watching your grandson on television this morning saying there is no point going to space, we need to save the Earth." The queen chuckled and said, "I read about that!"

The queen's unguarded comments, which would normally remain private, were picked up on a livestream of the event. She was in Cardiff, Wales, on Thursday to open the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.

On Wednesday, Prince William called out billionaire entrepreneurs engaging in space tourism. "We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live," he said in an interview with the BBC's Newscast on the same day that William Shatner flew aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

Prince William also told BBC Newscast that his son Prince George had been litter-picking at school but was "confused" and "annoyed" that the litter kept reappearing. "And I think that for him, he was trying to understand where it all came from. He couldn't understand, he's like, 'Well, we cleaned this. Why has it not gone away?'" William warned that it would be an "absolute disaster" if George were forced to follow in his footsteps and campaign about environmental issues in 30 years' time.

Prince William and his father, Prince Charles, are expected to address world leaders at Cop26, with experts suggesting that the attendance of senior royals will boost the image of Britain taking climate talks seriously. World leaders currently not expected at Cop26 include Vladimir Putin, who said he may not attend due to fears about coronavirus, although he insisted this week that he would "still participate in the work of the Cop26." Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revised a decision to boycott the summit and confirmed he would attend. Xi Jinping, China's president, will reportedly not be attending.