Prince Harry: COVID-19 a rebuke from nature

The prince spoke during a conversation about the environment with the chief executive of a streaming platform for climate documentaries on Sunday (November 29).

"Somebody said to me at the beginning of the pandemic, it's almost as though Mother Nature has sent us to our rooms for bad behaviour, to really take a moment and think about what we've done," Harry said.

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have spoken out on issues such as race and the environment since stepping down from their roles as working members of the royal family at the end of March and moving to California.

Since the start of the pandemic, scientists have stepped up warnings that deforestation, ecosystem destruction and illegal trade in wildlife can increase the risk of disease transmission from animals to people, and have urged tighter controls.

The prince has been criticised in the past for his use of private jets.