The Prince of Wales’s office has defended his use of private jets and helicopters after it emerged that he repeatedly used them while lecturing world leaders about the need to act on climate change.

He flew more than 16,000 miles in less than a fortnight, clocking up a carbon footprint 18 times larger than that of the average UK resident in a year, it was reported.

Prince Charles used an electric Jaguar last week to travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he met the teenage climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, who has vowed not to fly because of its carbon impact.

However, The Mail on Sunday said that he had taken a private jet to the Alps after making private flights to