Private jet Harry and Meghan used to fly out to Spain cost £20,000

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex used a private jet from a company dubbed ‘Uber for billionaires’ during their secret six-day trip to Ibiza that could have cost £20,000 in flights alone, it was claimed today.

Harry, 34, and Meghan, who turned 38 on August 4, flew to Ibiza on August 6 where they stayed in a luxury private villa before returning to the UK on Monday. 

Flight logs uncovered by MailOnline reveal for the first time how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their son Archie secretly travelled to and from Ibiza for their break in a private villa.

On Tuesday, August 6, the first day of their secret holiday, the only private plane travelling to Ibiza from the VIP Farnborough Airport in Hampshire was a Gulfstream 200, which can hold up to 19 people, which left at 7.49am BST and touched down on the Balearic island at 10.49am local time.

Six days later, on Monday this week, a nine-seater Cessna 500 XL, owned by NetJets, departed Ibiza at 10.14am local time and touched down at Farnborough at 11.20am BST and is understood to have been carrying the royals. 

At least one leg of the journey is understood to have been booked through NetJets, which has earned the nicknames ‘Hertz For Heirs’ or ‘Uber for billionaires’ because it serves the mega-rich. 

 The plane used by the couple is believed to be a Cessna Citation XL, similar to the one pictured in this file photo 

The 860-mile private jet journey from Farnborough to Ibiza would have emitted six times more carbon than a commercial flight 

It is not known who paid for the flights, which would have cost around £20,000 return.

But NetJets are linked to Harry’s close friend Nacho Figueras, an Argentine sportsman known as the ‘David Beckham of polo’.

It is also possible that they may have borrowed a private jet from a friend whose plane is managed by a hire company.

NetJets has 750 planes for hire worldwide and boasts of offering an ‘unmatched experience’ to rich clients.

Perks include custom dining menus and the option to take pets in the cabin – with the company having previously transported dogs, cats and even a pig.  

Once on the Spanish island, the couple stayed in a luxury villa guarded by British and Spanish state security personnel. 

Their choice of a private jet has attracted widespread criticism given their regular comments about the need to protect the environment. 

Piers Morgan shared an article about their trip and wrote: ‘Saving the planet, one private jet at a time.’

There was also anger at the lack of transparency surrounding the trip, with royal representatives refusing to disclose how much it cost taxpayers. 

The best villas on Ibiza cost up to 50,000 Euros a week to rent and can sleep 20 or so people in luxury and away from prying eyes.

Piers Morgan was among those who took to Twitter to criticise the couple’s apparent hypocrisy

Meghan has fond memories of the island having visited with friends before meeting the Prince

In September’s edition of Vogue, guest edited by Meghan, Harry said the couple would only have two children for the sake of the environment

And royal security officers earn in the region of £100,000 a year, meaning a week’s time for five British staff would have added £10,000 to the trip, excluding the cost of flying them there and back.

It is believed the royal couple and Archie stayed in a secluded villa away from prying eyes, and travelled with security personnel for the ‘six-day trip’.

A source on the island told MailOnline that  the royals landed in Ibiza on Tuesday last week with several taxpayer-funded Met Police bodyguards, and that five close protection officers from the Spanish security forces joined the phalanx escorting them to their private villa.

The couple’s decision to use a private jet for their Ibiza trip means the journey would have emitted six times more carbon dioxide per person than a scheduled flight from London to the Spanish island. The flights there and back would have given out 12.5 tons of carbon dioxide.

There are around 14 scheduled flights from London and the South-East of England to Ibiza each day.

Their choice of transport flies in the face of their frequent public pronouncements on green issues.

Aerial view of Ibiza. It is understood Harry and Meghan were there from last Tuesday to this Monday and that the Sovereign Grant which comes from public money will have paid – but the palace refuses to say what happened or confirm any details

The overhaul of Frogmore Cottage  (pictured) was approved by the Queen, according to accounts released yesterday

Last month British Vogue magazine – guest-edited by the duchess – published an interview by Harry with leading conservationist Dr Jane Goodall. In it the prince suggested that he and Meghan may only have two children because of their environmental concerns.

In contrast to the duke and duchess, climate change activist Greta Thunberg boarded a boat from England to New York because she refuses to travel by plane. The 16-year-old was one of the 15 ‘forces for change’ Meghan chose to put on the cover of Vogue.

By taking a private jet, the privacy-obsessed royal couple – whose son was born in May – were able to fly in and out of Ibiza incognito. The cost of taking a private plane ranges from £12,000 to £20,000 one way – so up to £40,000 return.

Critics have blasted their private jet trip as hypocritical.

Former UKIP MEP Patrick O’Flynn said: ‘This is really, really, really bad PR. It is the kind of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ behaviour that the British public detests.’

Friends of the Earth spokesman Aaron Kiely said: ‘The Duke of Sussex speaks wonderful and stirring words on the environment and then he flies off on holiday to a European destination in a private jet.

‘He could have taken a train and then a boat. This would have been the perfect opportunity to set an environmental example.’

The holiday came just days after Prince Harry attended Camp Google in Sicily on July 31 after the tech giant flew him out for its celebrity climate summit.

MailOnline asked Buckingham Palace if the prince had travelled directly from Sicily via private plane, but a spokesman refused to comment.

A concert at the Temple of Hera at the Paestum Archaeological UNESCO World Heritage where a host of celebrities gathered for Google Camp climate change conference

Celebrities including Katy Perry, pictured, are attending the three-day conference in Sicily. She was dropped off on the megayacht Rising Sun, with other wealthy attendees bringing their private jets

Prince Harry is believed to be just one among a host of celebrities and billionaires at the conference, 

It comes less than two months after Harry and Meghan were criticised for spending £2.4million of public money doing up their new home in the grounds of Windsor Castle with the cost expected to balloon to £3million.

The newlyweds moved out of Kensington Palace this spring amid reports of a rift with Prince William and his wife Kate, whose joint Royal Foundation with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was also broken up last week.

The £2.4million ‘substantial overhaul’ of Frogmore Cottage – a gift to the couple from the Queen – was approved by Her Majesty but it is still not complete with the costs set to rise by up to £600,000 because of landscaping and more decorating.

The spending emerged as the Royal Household’s ‘Sovereign Grant’ redacted accounts were published. 

Harry and Meghan were living together at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace after their engagement in November 2017.

They were offered the palace’s grander Apartment 1, which boasts 21 rooms and adjoins William and Kate’s Apartment 1A, but chose to move 20 miles away to Frogmore Cottage instead.

Royal expert Robert Jobson, who wrote a best-selling biography on Prince Charles last year, told Good Morning Britain: ‘It’s costing far too much money, £2.4million. 

‘They [Harry and Meghan] should’ve seen this coming, they could’ve avoided it by moving in next door to William and Kate’.      

The newly released royal accounts reveal the £2.4million spent on revamping Harry and Meghan’s new home, the costs of running Charles and Camilla’s household and the amount the Queen spent on travel in 2018/19