King Charles the eco-warrior: organic farming, sustainable fashion, more big changes

King Charles was just nine years old when he met Sir David Attenborough, one of the world’s leading environmentalists.

Their meeting on the small screen in 1954 for the BBC documentary Zoo quest was a catalyst for the monarch’s deep appreciation for the importance of the natural world, which preceded decades of environmental campaigning.

“As (Charles) became prominent and mature, he took a strong stand at a time when conservation was seen as somewhat specialist,” Attenborough told the BBC.

“But in fact he was absolutely right and the world has come to see the world as he saw it.”

The King’s lifelong commitment to sustainability is fueled by his own environmental beliefs. The monarch is known to despise waste of all kinds and has spoken countless times about protecting the planet to create a better future for his grandchildren.

Lucy Johnson, sustainability expert and founder of Green Salon, explains HELLO!: ‘King Charles ascended the throne at a time when the planet faces the greatest danger. Fortunately for us, he is a man who is prepared.

⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ “The King started talking about sustainability, global warming and grass-fed products decades before they entered most people’s conversations.⁠ His love for nature has been undiminished and over the past sixty years he proved to be one of our most important environmentalists.⁠”

In honor of Earth Day, HELLO! reiterates some of King Charles’ most positive promises to the planet over the years.

King Charles’s Great Sustainability Speech, 1970

King Charles was just 21 years old when he delivered his first landmark speech on the environment on February 19, 1970. He warned of the threats posed by plastic waste and chemicals dumped into rivers and seas, and the “air pollution from smoke and fumes emitted by factories and from gases pumped by endless cars and planes”.

The speech was considered extremely radical at the time, but has become even more relevant today. King Charles admitted that his views were once considered “quite vague” but that they still reflect the key issues facing the world today.

Preference for organic farming

More than 40 years ago, His Majesty transformed the hectare of land on his beloved Highgrove Estate into an organic farm, strictly limiting the use of antibiotics and other harmful chemicals.

At the time, the prince was called “a complete idiot” for even suggesting this.

During one of his final engagements as Prince of Wales, the royal said: ‘One of the reasons I went organic 40 years ago was because I felt there was an overuse of antibiotics. And I felt like if you overdo it, you end up with resistance. Anyway, that’s what happened. I was told I was a complete idiot for even suggesting going organic.”

In 2020 it was announced that Home Farm’s lease would not be renewed due to his increasing responsibilities, but he continues to farm organically at Sandringham.

Launch of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, 2020

In his former role as Prince of Wales, the King launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative in 2020 to accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable future and ensure companies work for the benefit of people and the planet.

“We need to come together here as a world,” the monarch said of the launch. “I strongly believe that we need to develop an approach that by putting nature at the center of the whole process, whatever profit we make, we should also make a profit for nature by giving something back. So that my and your children and grandchild can have a reasonable future.”

Now more than 500 CEOs are part of the initiative, including the heads of some of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Eating a planet, positive, plant-based diet

In addition to eating organic products, which often cause much less CO2 emissions than regular agriculture, the king would avoid waste where possible.

“I cannot tolerate any waste, including food waste; I would much rather find another destination. That’s why I’ve been thinking for so long about the need for a circular economy, instead of a linear economy where you just make, take and throw away – which is a tragedy, because we inevitably overexploit natural resources, which are rapidly depleting,” said King Charles to former Vogue editor Edward Enniful.

King Charles chooses to eat a mainly plant-based diet to reduce his carbon footprint. “For years I did not eat meat or fish two days a week and no dairy products one day a week,” the king told the BBC in 2021.

King Charles Sustainable Fashion Exhibition

The King has been a champion of the ‘Positive Fashion’ initiative since its inception in 2018, alongside the British Fashion Council’s commitment to climate action, and will soon launch a sustainable fashion exhibition using recycled materials from his garden at Highgrove House.

The exhibition is part of the King’s ongoing collaboration with the designer duo Vin + Omi, who brought Royal Garden Waste To Fashion’s Future to life.

The collection will feature 24 garments and accessories that combine environmental awareness with innovation, including the world’s first maxi dress made with butterbur – an Asian swamp plant that grows next to the lakes at Sandringham.

Driving a car on biofuel

On his 21st birthday, His Majesty was presented with an Aston Martin by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. At the request of the Prince of Wales, the car underwent major changes so that it could run on biofuel. A combination of English white wine and whey from cheese is used as fuel.

“The engineers at Aston said, ‘Oh, it’ll ruin the whole thing,’” Charles said The Telegraph in 2018. “I said, ‘Then I’m not going to drive it,’ so they went ahead with it and now they admit it drives better and is more powerful on that fuel than on gasoline.” It smells wonderful when you drive,” he added.