Prince Charles: 10 things The Crown won’t tell you about the British royal heir, as Queen Elizabeth’s oldest son turns 72
Sons Prince William and Prince Harry were impressed by their father’s early environmental campaigning – fighting for sustainability and against climate change, plastic waste and ugly city planning
Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son might have been labelled “dotty” and “eccentric” occasionally over the years – for his views on subjects from the environment to alternative medicines and architecture – but history has also shown the heir to the British throne to be way ahead of his time.
As Prince Charles turns 72 later this week, on November 14, we look at little-known facts about the Prince of Wales you may not know from watching The Crown alone.
Plastic waste
Back in the 1970s, Prince Charles was already talking about the problems of plastic waste, as he endeavoured to convince the public about the need to recycle. His pleas may have fallen on largely deaf ears, but his sons Prince William and Prince Harry are said to admire their dad for this stance.
The environment
While climate change may now be an era-defining crisis at the heart of sensible public dialogue the world over, you might not believe that Prince Charles has been touting the need for environmental awareness since the 1980s.
The heir to the throne installed one of the world’s first bottle banks at Buckingham Palace in 1980. At the time, even The Guardian described it as a “strange engine”, according to the prince’s recollection at a speech for the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership hosted at St James Palace in 2010.
Prince Charles has also pioneered agricultural techniques over the past 35 years, installing solar panels in his home at Highgrove House and other royal households. He has influenced the queen, his sons and other members of the royal family to be more environmentally aware.
