Charles enjoys e-rickshaw ride on India visit

The Prince of Wales has been taken on a rickshaw ride with a difference in India – a silent battery-powered journey.

Charles, a prominent climate change campaigner, went for a spin in one of the famous three-wheeled vehicles during a visit to India’s equivalent of the Met Office in the capital New Delhi.

The heir to the UK throne joked with his entourage and said “are you going to run behind” before taking the back seat where a cushion was placed.

Charles in the e-rickshaw
Charles in the e-rickshaw

The driver was a product of a programme, run by sustainable transport organisation SMV Green, which is training some of India’s first female rickshaw operators.

Charles was driven at a stately pace of a few miles an hour as he travelled around 50 metres.

The driver, who only wanted to be known by her first name Maria, was not fazed by the passenger in the back of her cab.

The 24-year-old part-time student said: “I was very happy to drive the prince and I wasn’t nervous, it was great.”

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