Harry's game

So, Prince Harry is going to trek 200 miles to the South Pole across some of the most inhospitable conditions to be found anywhere on Earth. Good for him. He is doing it for charity, (I'm not sure which one, could it be Help for Heroes?) and he should, given enough publicity, make an absolute bomb. But I have a little question. Who is footing the bill for protecting our intrepid boy, to prevent him becoming some sort of latter-day Captain Scott? Doubtless he'd make even more money if he did, but the state isn't about to let that happen. Just like when he was in Afghan, an elaborate machine will be put in place to ensure he comes to no harm. In a war zone this is hard (and expensive) enough; but in Antarctica the logistics will be tremendous. And just like in a theatre of war, those protecting him will be putting their own lives at risk too. You just can't get anything wrong in such an unforgiving environment, and I can already imagine the fleet of aircraft that will be needed for the job, circling overhead, getting his party in their benevolent sights, making sure everyone is safe, warm and well fed. I shouldn't be surprised if Harry ends up getting sick of the constant drone in his ears and tells them to bugger off and leave him in peace for a while. But they won't. They can't. He's too damn precious.

What I'm saying is, take out what it will cost to prevent Harry from dying from hypothermia, knock it off from the money he will raise: how much will be left? It's like people (and I know one or two personally) who do things like climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity: couldn't they just donate the airfare and hotel bills instead and stay at home? It'd be a lot greener.

When my wife and I climbed Snowdon in the summer of 2006, there were literally dozens of people sharing the mountain with us who had already climbed Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike in the same day- the so-called "three peaks challenge". Most of them were doing it for charity. And although a number of them ended their epic journey staying at our hotel, there was no talk whatsoever about the green cost. This challenge involves, not just a lot of shoe leather, but hundreds and hundreds of gallons of petrol and diesel. Maybe I'm being a curmudgeonly old bastard, but there isn't enough consideration of these issues when people are doing what they want to do: whether it be raising money for charity, or simply having fun around the world. Travel is cheap, so the argument goes, so why not? Why not indeed...