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Once known as the potty prince for his environmental views, he is at last settling in to his role as the first ever Green King.
King Charles spent his life as the Prince of Wales sniping from the sidelines – but now he has the power to make radical reforms to the monarchy.
The Palace’s latest green move came last month, when it was revealed that a pair of gas-guzzling state Bentleys will be converted to run on biofuel.
‘The two existing state Bentleys will undergo refurbishment in the coming year to enable them to run on biofuel,’ said Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the privy purse.
He added that it was an interim measure in advance of ‘the next generation of state vehicles being fully electrified’ and part of a ‘wider plan to make a significant impact on our carbon emissions in the years ahead’.
Charles, then the Prince of Wales, sitting in his garden at Highgrove in 1986
The Palace’s latest green move came last month, when it was revealed that a pair of gas-guzzling state Bentleys will be converted to run on biofuel
Both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace will be powered in part by new solar panels
The King converted his Aston Martin DB7 to run off cheese and wine
Charles, then the Prince of Wales, smells an allium while touring Hackney City Farm in London with Camilla, 2009
The announcement was swiftly followed by news of a deal between the Crown Estate, the monarchy’s property arm, and Great British Energy – the Labour Government’s new publicly owned energy company – to build offshore windfarms to power 20m homes.
The Crown Estate, which will receive a healthy share of any profits, owns most of the seabed up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
Also detailed in the annual sovereign grant report were moves to install solar panels at Windsor Castle, with heat pumps to follow.
Gas lanterns at Buckingham Palace are being given new electrical fittings to ‘improve their energy efficiency while preserving their historic look and glow.’
Sir Michael said the changes were ‘driven by a determination to place sustainability at the heart of our operations and inspired by his majesty’s leadership in this sphere’.
But it is not that long since King Charles’s warnings about harm to the environment were going unheeded.
When he suggested recycling bottles at Buckingham Palace or argued for organic farming, he was considered ‘completely potty’, which he acknowledged himself in 2020.
He talks to plants, wears sustainable clothes and converted his Aston Martin DB7 to run on cheese and wine.
Then of course were the so-called ‘black spider’ – described as such because of his distinctive handwriting – letters, which he sent to ministers.
In many of those, he complained about the lack of work or lack of interest by the Government to take the problems of the planet seriously.
His views were often seen as eccentric.
Charles is known for talking to his plants. Above: His Majesty planting a tree on new allotments at a new housing development on Duchy of Cornwall land in Fordington, Dorset, 2016
King Charles is famous for not throwing away anything and has his clothes patched up and re-lined
Prince Charles attending a hedge-laying event at his estate at Highgrove in 2021
The Queen and Charles start the tree planting for the Queen’s Green Canopy project at Balmoral in October 2021
In 2021 Charles met environmental campaigner Davos
The King also set up the Duchy Organics brand – which cultivates and sells organic produce – in 1990.
Products including milk, meat and vegetables are sold to households, restaurants, supermarkets and schools.
It has since become synonymous with ethical produce and a Waitrose staple.
He also admitted that he shares the concerns of campaigner Greta Thunberg (who he met at a conference) and other environmental activists when it comes to world leaders’ lack of climate action.
The King’s passion for the environment has shown no sign of waning in recent years. In 2021 he said countries should remain on a ‘war footing’ against climate change.
Ascent to the throne meant no more speeches about emissions or off-the-cuff remarks about nature destruction.
But his new position actually makes it easier for him to lobby prime ministers,
From now on, what the King says is less important than what he is seen to do.
Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England and former executive director of Friends of the Earth, who has co-authored two books with Charles, said: ‘There is no doubt that our monarch, our head of state, is a very committed and very effective environmentalist.
‘I would say that he possibly is the most significant environmental figure in history, considering the breadth and depth that he’s gone into over so long.
‘He had to put up with some really quite unpleasant ridicule during the early years of raising these questions.
‘But he knew he was in a bigger battle than just dealing with a few sceptics, that this was an existential threat.
King Charles III speaks during an opening ceremony at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, 2023
King Charles has passed on his passion for the environment to his son Prince William. Above: The pair walking at Duchy Home Farm in Gloucestershire, 2004
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, visiting a seaweed farm in Wales in 2023
Prince William and Kate at the Earthshot Prize in Boston in December 2022
‘And so, he stuck with it. He was a real pioneer for many years when mainstream figures wouldn’t acknowledge the scale of the threat and had to put up with a lot of pushbacks from different people.
‘And in the end, of course, he was ahead of the consensus.
‘The King’s values have been passed down the generations and we are set to have the greenest monarchy we’ve ever had.
Mr Juniper also pointed out that King Charles III would be passing the eco baton onto his son William, the Prince of Wales.
He has grown up watching his father speak out on the issues that matter to him.
Prince William spoke in 2018 about how they used to spend many of their holidays picking up litter on the beaches of Norfolk.
It is a habit he has passed onto his son, Prince George, who has also been on a beach clean- up with his father.
William also created the Earthshot Prize last year, a £1 million global award designed to incentivise change and help to repair our planet over the next decade.
