BUSY DAY

Prince Edward Meets 192-Year-Old Tortoise and Blames Men for Screwing Up the World

Prince Edward strikes a blow for gender equality before meeting a tortoise who met his grandfather, George VI, who died in 1952.

Prince Edward has met a tortoise believed to be the world’s oldest land animal—after blaming men for not doing a better job of running the world.

Speaking to a group of female scientists at the British High Commission in Pretoria on Monday night, the king’s youngest brother, 59, said: “I know the world is not in a happy place at the moment. If I can be quite frank, men aren’t doing a very good job at the moment. So therefore I am not particularly happy about standing up here and speaking. But I will say there is more that binds us together, more that brings us together, than there is that separates us.”

Edward’s comments were posted online by South African news channel SABC.

Edward’s wife Sophie is a well-known advocate for gender equality. She is Patron of Wellbeing of Women, a women’s health charity, and works with both the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.

After his visit to South Africa, Edward travelled on to St Helena, the remote volcanic island to which Napoleon was exiled and remains a British Overseas Territory, where he was introduced to the island’s most famous resident, Jonathan the Seychelles tortoise. Jonathan is believed to be the world’s oldest living land animal, at 192 years old.

Jonathan has not only met Queen Elizabeth II, but also her father, George VI, who died in 1952.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.