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The Jordanians may have the glamour, but Thailand’s royals come up trumps on matters green. The environmental blog Grist has a list of the 10 greenest royals. My favourite, Charles, tops the list. He is an endangered species in his own right and deserves the highest recognition.

But run your eye down the list (gentlemen, move on past Jordan please) and you will find that Thailand has two of the greenest members of the world’s royal elite.

There may be some shock and disappointment that the king and the queen (As the King is the water, I shall be the forest – Queen Sirikit) do not themselves feature (I am sure they would round out the green dozen). But given that generational change is in the air it is only appropriate that Princess Chulabhorn Walailak and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn take the honours (in positions 6 and 9 respectively).

green princess 1green princess 2

Chulabhorn has been honoured for, among other things, “studying the health risks that air pollution poses to traffic police in Bangkok” (motorcades?). Sirindhorn earns ninth spot for helping with “preserving the biodiversity of plant life”. She is pictured showing how plant ecosystems and daily attire can be practically combined.

I have seen some mean-spirited talk by the internet chattering classes about the so-so environmental credentials of these hi-so mo-so royals (I stole that line), but that sort of sarcasm should be treated with the contempt it deserves.