Festival of wealth: Inside Google’s mysterious camp for the elite

A mysterious camp for the world’s elite has sparked fury around the world, with many slamming the A-listers who attended as “hypocritical”.

Prince Harry is continuing his climate crusade by giving a barefoot speech about the need to save the environment at “Google camp”, the mysterious annual billionaire summit in Sicily.

A source told the New York Post the Duke of Sussex showed up at the super-secret three-day event to give an impassioned lecture about saving nature to a crowd of A-list celebrities and powerbrokers, many of whom, ironically, arrived in gas-guzzling private jets and mega-yachts.

Prince Harry gave a talk about climate change to billionaires and celebrities at Google Camp in Sicily (pictured last month at Windsor Castle, England). Picture: Getty

Prince Harry gave a talk about climate change to billionaires and celebrities at Google Camp in Sicily (pictured last month at Windsor Castle, England).
Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

The Prince covered the same material he talked about in an interview with British Vogue this week, where he said he planned to have no more than two children with wife Meghan Markle, the source said.

“Two, maximum!” he told renowned British anthropologist Jane Goodall while chatting about the deterioration of the planet.

Kensington Palace said of Harry’s alleged Google speech: “This is not something we are commenting on.”

American businessman and record label founder David Geffen and singer Katy Perry were among the elite attendees at Google Camp 2019 in Sicily. Picture: David Geffen/Instagram

American businessman and record label founder David Geffen and singer Katy Perry were among the elite attendees at Google Camp 2019 in Sicily.
Picture: David Geffen/Instagram Source:Supplied

Up to 200 celebrities descended on the Italian island of Sicily, chartering 114 private jets to get there and tooling around on Maseratis between staying on mega-yachts worth up to $400 million, according to Italian press reports.

But the event has sparked fury from online commentators around the world, who have dismissed the A-listers in attendance as “hypocritical” and “entitled”.

“Is there anything more hypocritical than a bunch of rich people flying their private jets across the world to sit on yachts and discuss the future of our planet?” said Twitter user @asilia1981.

BBC presenter Andrew Neil repeatedly lampooned the event on Twitter.

“Scores of celebrities and the rich have arrived in Sicily for a Google conference. They came in 114 private jets and a flotilla of super yachts,” Neil wrote to his nearly 1 million Twitter followers. “The conference is on global warming.

“Well, what is conference going to achieve, other than a glamorous (party) for the rich?”

In an opinion piece in The Times, Stuart Heritage sneered: “If the best name that Google could think of to save the world is Harry Styles, we’re all screwed.”

“We’re all lugging around KeepCups and recycling properly while these entitled fools are taking 114 private jets to a CLIMATE CHANGE conference,” Irish journalist Eleanore Hutch fumed.

Former Republican House candidate Elizabeth Heng also lobbed criticism at the secretive event for the world’s elite, saying “How ironic.”

“For all this talk about saving the earth, 114 private jets chartered to attend this conference. Eliminating carbon footprint, eh?” she wrote Thursday.

By contrast, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg recently announced she would travel by sailboat from Europe to attend United Nations climate change summits in the US and Chile, in order to drastically reduce the footprint of the journey.

Ms Thunberg will make the trip on a yacht fitted with solar panels and underwater turbines to generate zero-carbon electricity.

“I don’t fly because of the enormous climate impact of aviation,” she said.

INSIDE ‘GOOGLE CAMP’

The billionaire creators of Google invited a who’s who of A-list names — including former president Barack Obama, Katy Perry, Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio and Diane von Furstenberg — for the mega-party, now in its seventh year.

Coldplay singer Chris Martin, a supporter of The CarbonNeutral Company, performed at night amid brightly lit ruins.

Sources told The Post the extravaganza cost Google at least $US20 million ($A29 million).

Outspoken environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio attended the secretive summit. Picture: Getty

Outspoken environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio attended the secretive summit. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

Other big-name guests included Harry Styles, Orlando Bloom, Bradley Cooper, Karlie Kloss, Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas and American businessman and record-label founder David Geffen.

The schedule is a closely guarded secret with guests having to sign nondisclosure agreements, but a source told the New York Post: “Everything is about global warming, that is the major topic this year.”

Fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg at Google Camp. Picture: Instagram/@DVF

Fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg at Google Camp. Picture: Instagram/@DVFSource:Supplied

Social media posts are forbidden, but a few stars broke the rules to share photos.

Sources said supermodel Naomi Campbell also gave a heartfelt speech on Wednesday about her friend, late South African leader Nelson Mandela.

Mr Obama was slated to attend and give a talk but was ultimately a no-show, sources told The Post.

Naomi Campbell reportedly gave a speech about Nelson Mandela. Picture: Getty Images

Naomi Campbell reportedly gave a speech about Nelson Mandela. Picture: Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

The three-day event is focused on climate change, but the world’s rich and famous also discussed human rights, politics and online privacy.

It’s unclear how much time the attendees spent discussing their own effect on the environment, with The Post calculating that their flights alone would pump at least 784,000 kilograms (784 tonnes) of CO2 into the air.

Local media reported the A-listers “invaded” the island, clogging local roads with Maseratis, Ferraris and Porches, with celebrities photographed tooling around the island in gas-guzzling, high-end SUVs.

Google, which owns YouTube and provides the world’s most popular search engine, claims it “strives to build sustainability into everything” it does.

But the Verdura Resort is bigger than Monaco and houses a 203-room five-star hotel, three golf courses, six tennis courts, a football pitch and volleyball court, four pools and a water sports club.

For the entertainment, Google rents out the impressive Valley of the Temples ruins in nearby Agrigento where guests enjoy top cuisine and the performance of a famous singer.

— with The SunNew York Post


This entry was posted on in homepage. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.