When King Charles III celebrated his 21st birthday, his mother Queen Elizabeth II gave him an Aston Martin DB6.
He still has it, a classic now worth about $300,000. These days, the King’s DB6 runs not on petrol or diesel, but on a biofuel made from cheese whey and old white wine. The reason, the King has said, is because he felt morally and environmentally obliged to modernise the car if he was going to keep it on the road. Thus the black vehicle became a green machine.
When the King was born on November 14, 1948, the first modern synthetic insecticide, DDT, had just come into widespread use.
It was to have long-term effects, as recent studies show it can take 50 years or longer to break down in the soil.
Happily, DDT was eventually banned worldwide in 2004 (1989 in New Zealand) but in 1974 another controversial product, glyphosate (Roundup), had been introduced.
In his foreword to Highgrove: A Garden Celebrated by Bunny Guinness (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014), the then Prince Charles wrote: “I found myself growing up at a time when so much that had been carefully and lovingly developed, bred, nurtured and improved over thousands of years of trial and error was being callously and rashly discarded. Thank God there were various far-sighted people [in Britain] who had set up organisations to try to save something from this carnage of fashionable vandalism.”
He is one of the far-sighted few.
How correct his prediction was.
Since 1980, the King has owned Highgrove, an 18th century property in Gloucestershire, England, which had 6ha of gardens and the 360ha Duchy Farm. Because the property was actually bought by the Duchy of Cornwall, the King now has to lease it from his son, Prince William, Duke of Cornwall.
At Highgrove, in the walled kitchen garden, the future king sowed his first vegetables. This area had very rich soil, as it had been used as a pen for fattening pigs, so he was off to a great start.
The garden reflects the King’s passion for organic gardening and his belief that heirloom vegetables and fruits should be retained.
If you want a right royal garden, try some of King Charles’ favourites.
Apparently, he is a spud lover and one of his “must haves”, knobbly Pink Fir Apple (1850), is widely available here.
Purple-leaved heirloom Rubine Brussels sprouts seem not to have reached New Zealand. However, we do have several other red/purple varieties, so substitute one of them to get the antioxidant anthocyanin found in purple vegetables.
Also rich in anthocyanin are Purple Haze carrots, which the King says taste better than orange ones. Seed is sold in New Zealand garden centres.
For fruit, pears are the King’s favourite, with heritage Buerre Superfin (1837) one of his top choices. This russetted pear appears not to have made it to New Zealand so – if you want to imitate the King – try Buerre Hardy (1820) or Buerre Bosc (early 1800s).
The King is also said to enjoy New Zealand pear Taylor’s Gold (1986), Doyenne du Comice (France) and Starkrimson (early 1950s).
His favourite flowers seem to be mainly white or pastel-coloured and include white and blue delphiniums, white lupins and blue hydrangeas, while Camassia quamash carpets the wildflower meadow.
Highgrove has Britain’s national collection of hostas and ‘‘Empress Wu’’ was obtained from a North Island nursery during the then Prince Charles’ 2005 visit.
Of Highgrove, the King has said: “In many ways the garden ... represents one very small attempt to heal the appallingly short-sighted damage done to the soil, the landscape and our own souls.”
The Highgrove garden is open to the public between April and October and welcomes up to 40,000 visitors a year.
