Considering the bizarre comments Greta Thunberg has fielded from Donald Trump, Piers Morgan, and more, the world would probably understand if she decided to never meet with another baby boomer until they finally do something real about climate change. But this week she went straight to the belly of the beast, to the World Economic Forum at Davos. She made headlines on Tuesday for chastising the gathered players about their generation’s failures, but she then met with Prince Charles on Wednesday, proving that she gets along just fine with the more reasonable men in their 70s.
After a brief meeting, they posed for pictures in a small conference room. A bit of an odd couple—Thunberg in her signature hoodie and Charles in his signature pinstriped suit—they traded small talk about the distracting glare of the cameras. “I guess you’re very used to this,” Thunberg said, according to the Times’ Roya Nikkhah. Prince Charles responded, “This has taken many years to get used to.”
Charles has long focused his charity efforts on the environment, even at times when it wasn’t a popular issue. In 2018, he told Vanity Fair, “Over forty years ago I remember making a speech about the problems of plastic and other waste, but at that stage nobody was really interested and I was considered old-fashioned, out of touch.” He’s also been known as a passionate writer of letters meant to pester politicians and vent his opinions, so perhaps he sees a kindred spirit in Thunberg.
In an interview with CNN’s Max Foster after the meeting, the prince gushed about the recent Time person of the year honoree. “[Greta] is remarkable. She represents one of the main reasons why I’ve been trying to make all this effort all these years,” he said. “Because as I said, I didn’t want my grandchildren to accuse me of not doing something about this in time.”
Back in October, an ITV documentary about Charles showed him on a few outdoor excursions in the Duchy of Cornwall, as he spoke about his passion for climate change. Now that we know about his onscreen charisma with Thunberg, maybe the pair can team up for a documentary of their own.
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