He will wear clothes that belonged to previous monarchs and the main course will be... vegetarian. For his coronation ceremony, King Charles III chose to infuse a little sobriety into the royal ceremony. This fervent defender of the environment thus marks his "green" footprint and shakes up the habits of the kingdom.

Introducing... Coronation Quiche!

Chosen personally by Their Majesties, The King and The Queen Consort have shared a recipe in celebration of the upcoming #CoronationBigLunch taking place up and down the country. pic.twitter.com/aVcw9tNarP

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 17, 2023

Prince Charles never hid his environmental convictions, even if it meant passing in the 1970s for a wacky with the British press, which then called him "a prince who eats his lawn", after he admitted to liking talking to plants to make them grow.

Avant-garde, the young Charles warns very early on about the harmful effects of pollution on biodiversity. In a speech in 1970, he was barely 21 years old and expressed his concern to members of the Welsh Campaign Committee, of which he was chairman. They sense that the planet is in danger and denounce chemical pollution, air pollution and oil pollution, "which almost destroys beaches and affects tens of thousands of seabirds".

Organic farm and reintroduction of endangered pigs

The British crown owns a lot of land and Prince Charles began converting some of it to organic farming in 1985. On the 440 hectares of his farm in Highgrove, located in the southwest of England, he is experimenting with a natural garlic-based product instead of using pesticides on his fields. The site is also home to more than 73 species of rare animals. This is how he reintroduced tamworth pigs, one of the oldest breeds in the country.

Prince William In Countryman Outfit Of Tweed Cap And Waxed Jacket Visited Duchy Home Farm With Prince Charles And Inspected The Ayrshire Cattle That Are Raised There. The Prince Has Inherited His Father's Interest In Cows And Organic Farming. pic.twitter.com/PfwydEZRe5

— George Grant (@RuleBGB) May 28, 2021

On his land in Dorset, in the south, he is building a model village to test the use of eco-friendly materials, waste sorting and other principles of sustainable urban planning.

Later, the sovereign installed woodchip boilers in his homes and converted his Jaguar and Land Rover to biodiesel, made from used cooking oil, among other environmentally friendly measures. Over the years, he embarked on experiments that were sometimes mocked, such as with his Aston Martin, which he advanced with "surplus English white wine and whey from cheese making," he boasted at COP26 in 2021.

From 2007, Charles III innovated once again by unveiling this time his carbon footprint, which he will do every year since. It is committed to offsetting its emissions by investing in sustainable energy projects, where they cannot be reduced.

The big declarations in Davos

Unlike his mother, who was pushed to the throne from childhood, the prince had seventy years to observe the evolution of the world and reflect on his reign. Throughout his years, he took advantage of his official trips and his international speeches to put the preservation of the environment in the spotlight, even if it meant surprising his audience.

In 2020 at the Davos Forum, he supports the young activist Greta Thunberg and criticizes the lack of ecological commitment of the economic world. "What good is all the additional wealth in the world, obtained through 'business as usual', if nothing can be done with it except watch it burn in catastrophic conditions?" he told the room.

Britain's Prince Charles meets Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg at World Economic Forum in Davos #reutersdavos #wef20 pic.twitter.com/Yx8jD3k7AT

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 23, 2020

In partnership with the World Economic Forum, the sovereign created a year earlier the Council for Sustainable Markets, a body responsible for encouraging best practices, identifying innovative technologies and linking investors and projects.

Political neutrality and mainstream ecology

However, "the positions of Charles III are not radical," comments Thibaud Harrois, lecturer in contemporary British civilization at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University. "He did not ask for the end of capitalism. It does what could be described as 'mainstream' ecology, accepted by all at a time when there is a scientific consensus around the issue of global warming."

In his role as monarch, the British sovereign is subject to political neutrality, recalls the researcher. Also, Thibaud Harrois doubts to see one day the activist Greta Tunberg invited to Buckingham Palace. "It would be daring because it symbolizes a politically contested type of activism – climate strike – that is contested. It's hard to see the king doing anything that could have a political impact and harm the British government."

In 2004, however, Charles came out of his reserve by secretly sending a series of handwritten letters to several British ministers and politicians. Very personal missives in which the prince gave his opinion on organic agriculture, global warming, and urban planning, which was later criticized for him.

Prince Charles' private jet trips

Speeches that are not enough to green the image of the sovereign, still criticized for his personal lifestyle, his taste for fox hunting, and his many trips by plane deemed contradictory with his environmental positions.

In fact, Charles III monitors his carbon footprint, but he has not given up regularly traveling by private plane, or going on vacation every winter skiing, an activity increasingly criticized for its environmental impact. In 2020 alone, its carbon footprint is estimated at 3,133 tonnes of CO2 compared to the 8.3 tonnes emitted by an ordinary British citizen.

The same year, the Daily Mail singled out the prince for having traveled 25,000 kilometers by private jet in the eleven days preceding his participation in the event in Switzerland in Davos, where he posed alongside Greta Thunberg. A short period during which Charles III traveled by private jet three times, not counting five empty trips to come and retrieve it. A hiccup that comes in addition to other episodes, such as the controversy generated by his trip to New York in 2007 with a team of twenty people to receive an ecology prize.

At a time when global warming is more relevant than ever, one thing is certain, criticism should not diminish with his accession to the crown, especially since the movements of the future king of England will be tracked.

Coronation of King Charles III © Graphic Studio, France World Media

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