(Prince Charles)
Exclusive documentary about Prince Charles and
his estate.
Prince Charles’s passion for the countryside is
well known, and now the future king of England has been described as a powerful
voice for the farming community in a new documentary about the heir and his
estate.
The two-part programme, Inside the Duchy, which will broadcast exclusively on ITV Choice
(DStv 123) on November 14, and 21 at 20h00, also features the Prince voicing
his concerns over climate change, saying that he hopes its effects won’t
“completely destroy” efforts to preserve the countryside.
“To me it's absolutely crucial that we don't
battle with nature and actually work with it, with her,” says the Prince.
Inside the Duchy also highlights the lives
of the estate's farmers and tenants. The 135-acre tract, which spans 23 English
counties, generates more than £21 million per year in profit (nearly R400
million), money that Charles uses to fund his official duties and charity work
as well as the work of his children.
In the documentary, the Prince also reveals he
was nearly reduced to tears when Prince William praised his hard work on the
Duchy and says he was “deeply touched and moved” when he heard his eldest son
say he had been thinking about how to maintain the estate when he was no longer
around.
“It practically reduced me to tears because I
suddenly thought just hearing that from him has made the last 50 years
worthwhile. Confronting your own mortality is a very good thing if I may say so
– it’s quite good for the soul.”
During a visit to a Duchy farm, William says he
should have brought along his eldest child, Prince George: “He would be
absolutely loving this. He's obsessed,” says William.
The Duke of Cambridge also speaks to farmers about
how vital family is to the estate and how important the outdoors is to his own
family.
“My children are already playing on the tractors
and it's so important to get outside and have the children understand nature.”
William also confesses he is very passionate
about farming and is learning as much as he can on the Queen's estate at
Sandringham: “I’ve started to think about how I will inherit the Duchy one day
and what I do with it.”
Prince Charles' endeavours to increase Duchy
woodland are also highlighted in the programme, with some 200,000 trees
planted: “I love planting trees and trying to improve and enhance the
environment to restore lost habitats and all these things, but I just pray that
climate change and all the horrors we are facing now if we don’t do something
about it, won’t completely destroy all this effort.”
Prince Charles inherited the Duchy when he was
21 and, as the longest-serving heir to the British throne, has now been at its
helm for more than 50 years. During that time, he has used his passion for
nature and the environment to inform a philosophy for Duchy land.
“It’s not
just a business. It encompasses everything he’s passionate about,” says
Charles’ wife, Camilla. “It’s the environment, it’s sustainability, it’s
looking after the land for small rural communities he minds a great deal about.
I think it’s generations of families who I think feel looked after and cared
for.”
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