UK’s Prince William takes a swipe at Jeff Bezos, says ‘should focus on saving Earth rather than space tourism’

Taking a thinly veiled swipe at the billionaires embroiled in a space tourism race, Britain's Prince William said the world's greatest brains should instead be focused on solving the environmental problems facing the Earth.

During a BBC interview aired on Thursday, the Duke of Cambridge slammed Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson who are all venturing into a new era of private commercial space travel. The Duke called for greater focus on saving the earth, rather than leaving for other planets.

He spoke as "Star Trek" actor William Shatner became the oldest person to go on a space excursion on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket on Wednesday. Also, Musk has frequently spoken about the importance of making humankind "interplanetary" especially if Earth becomes uninhabitable.

The prince will also be awarding £1 million grants on Sunday through his Earthshot Prize, which aims to find solutions through new technologies or policies to the planet’s biggest environmental problems.