Royals

Meghan Markle's Environmentalist Champion Greta Thunberg, 16, Sails into NYC — with Another Royal!

"I would love not to have to do this and just go to school, but… I want to make a difference," the Swedish teen said after docking

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Published on August 29, 2019 12:58 PM

One of Meghan Markle‘s handpicked “Forces for Change” just proved again how she’s living up to the title.

When the Duchess of Sussex chose 15 women making a difference in the world to grace the cover of her guest-edited September issue of British Vogue, 16-year-old climate and environmentalist activist Greta Thunberg made the exclusive list.

Meghan first hinted she was a big fan of the Swedish teen when she and Prince Harry followed her on Instagram in July, highlighting her while championing environmental causes. And on Wednesday, Thunberg sailed past the Statue of Liberty and the Freedom Tower into New York Harbor to prove a point about environmentally-friendly travel.

Thunberg was on her way to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23, traveling on a zero-emissions sailboat to reduce the environmental impact of her journey.

“I would love not to have to do this and just go to school, but… I want to make a difference,” Thunberg said at a press conference after docking.

Thunberg was named one of Time’s Most Influential Teens of 2018 and nominated for a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to halt climate change.

<a href="https://people.com/tag/meghan-markle/" data-inlink="true">Meghan Markle</a> and Greta Thunberg — Chris Jackson/Getty; Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Greta Thunberg. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty

But Meghan and Harry aren’t her only royal connection — sailing with Thunberg on the 60-foot Malizia II racing yacht (equipped with solar panels and underwater turbines) was Grace Kelly’s grandson, Pierre Casiraghi. Pierre acted as skipper on the two-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Also on the trip were Thunberg’s father, Svante Thunberg, and German sailor Boris Herrmann. A cameraman was also onboard to document the voyage.

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Pierre, who owns the carbon-neutral boat, told The Times that he reached out to Thunberg after hearing she was looking for a sustainable way to travel to the summit.

“They had a lot of questions and they had been exploring different kinds of boats to get across,” he said. “We explained this is a racing boat, that there is little comfort on the boat, but she seems fine with that.”

The son of Princess Caroline of Monaco congratulated Thunberg for making the cross-ocean journey with such grace.

“I am full of praise for Thunberg’s courage and determination; her attitude on board Malizia II was exemplary despite the extreme living conditions,” he said after arriving in New York. “I would like to thank everyone in the Malizia team and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. It was a very emotional moment sailing past the Statue of Liberty, and I thank everyone for all the support we received during this amazing adventure crossing the Atlantic.”