Anne attacks idle

Jan 19, 2007, 13:00 GMT

Britain's Princess Anne has blamed global warming on people being "rather idle and dirty".

The Princess Royal made the damning comments during her eight-day visit to Antarctica.

Before stepping on Royal Navy ship Endurance, which is collecting information on climate change, she said: "The changes are apparently more rapid. I think it perhaps comes under the inconvenient heading doesn't it, because that means we are probably rather idle and dirty."

In her speech, the royal - who is accompanied by her husband, Rear Admiral Timothy Lawrence - also named heavy industrialisation as one of the main culprits in increasing climate change.

She said: "We've produced a lot of things which make life easier but at the same time they are rather dirty and as we accumulate more and more, we are less good at using waste."

Anne - who is the patron of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust - is the first royal to visit the southernmost continent in more than 50 years.

From Antarctica, the royal couple - who arrived on the continent on Sunday (14.01.07) - will head on to Chile for a "good-will" visit to meet the country's president Michelle Bachelet Jeria.

(C) BANG Media International