Prince William is not winning any points with the people of Africa after he made remarks linking the continent’s population to pressure on wildlife.
“But it is imperative that the natural world is protected not only for its contribution to our economies, jobs and livelihoods but for the health, wellbeing and future of humanity,” he said.
The Duke of Cambridge, a father of three, didn’t specifically mention population growth, reports Newsweek, but his comments have been condemned on Twitter, with many accusing him of racism, hypocrisy, and privilege.
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One person warned the prince to stay in his lane, tweeting that William “has no moral authority to say anything about Africa or about Africans and their lives.”
Mr. William has no moral authority to say anything about Africa or about Africans and their lives. He should spend his time reading good history books and raising his many children and spending time with his very huge family spread out across the world. His opinion is sewage🚮.
. https://t.co/ZdxVXMz5BD— Dr. John Njenga Karugia PhD. (@johnnjenga) November 24, 2021
“It would be helpful if Prince William paid attention in history. By far the greatest losses of wildlife in Africa occurred in the early 1900s when Europeans arrived with guns and hunted across the continent. To blame African civilians is to totally misunderstand African history,” tweeted another user.
It would be helpful if Prince William paid attention in history. By far the greatest losses of wildlife in Africa occurred in the early 1900s when Europeans arrived with guns and hunted across the continent. To blame African civilians is to totally misunderstand African history.
— Adam Armstrong (@disinfo_adam) November 24, 2021
British journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunter revived a tweet from 2017, pointing out Africa’s population density is much lower than Asia and Europe, while also slipping in a remark about William’s decision to add three more members to the world’s population.
Asia population density: 100 per square kilometre
Europe population density: 72.9 per square kilometre
Africa population density: 36.4 per square kilometre
Prince William, with two kids and another on the way: it is clear Africa are having too many children here https://t.co/zuaNq8zGFe
— Nadine Batchelor-Hunt (@nadinebh_) November 24, 2021
This isn’t the first time the Duke has faced fire for these types of remarks. In 2017 he was quickly condemned after saying that Africa’s “rapidly growing human population” was putting its wildlife and habitats under “enormous pressure.”
The latest criticism comes the same week a new documentary examining the British Royal Family was released by BBC, prompting the family to issue a statement expressing their disappointment in the film’s subject matter.
The Princes and the Press is a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the unseemly — and in some cases, disturbing — inner workings that have been kept hidden from the public.
The three royal households — Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Clarence House — called the two-part series “disappointing” and criticized the BBC for lending “credibility” to the idea that other members of the royal household leaked damaging information about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the press over the years.
