How King Charles’ lifelong love for gardens sets him apart among royalty

King Charles has built a considerable reputation for his environmental initiatives and ambitions over the years, while he continues to champion similar causes, only exacerbating his efforts since inheriting the throne.

However, what many may not know is that his majesty’s dedication towards environmental sustainability was not founded as an adult, out in the world — in fact, it all began at Buckingham Palace.

The unlikeliest of places to find your love for saving the environment perhaps, the King’s early years at Buckingham molded his future commitment through the lovely gardens housed at the official royal residence.

Childhood gardening

King Charles and his younger sister Princess Anne often busied themselves at a small gardening space, all their own, at Buckingham.

Here, the two royal children would grow vegetables and other plants while their parents, under the heavy responsibility of the Crown, would be gone on their official tours for months on end.

In their absence, one of young Charles’ most revered adult figures was a Buckingham gardener, by the name of Mr. Nutbeam.

“There was a wonderful head gardener at Buckingham Palace, he was called Mr. Nutbeam, rather splendidly. He was splendid, and helped us a bit, my sister and I, with the little garden we had,” the reigning monarch recalled on BBC Radio 4’s The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed.

Gardener prince

King Charles’ love for gardening, planted at Buckingham, grew into a massive tree of admiration once he reached adulthood and became the Prince of Wales.

He transformed a considerable number of the royal dwellings with a resplendent touch of greenery, including the Highgrove House, which he came to own in 1980.

Soon after acquiring the house, the King set about remodelling its gardening spaces and introduced organic farming to the estate in the 1980s, when the concept was not much trendy.

Other gardens upgraded or introduced by his majesty include one at Balmoral Estate’s Birkhall and a few areas at the Clarence House.

The Green King

King Charles’ love for gardens has now blossomed into a case of utmost devotion to preserving nature.

Besides his many programmes towards the cause, like the well known Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), the King is a regular at the UN’s annual climate conferences — otherwise known as the COP summits.

On his patronship for the Royal Horticultural Society, the organisation’s president, Keith Weed said, “As a passionate and knowledgeable gardener, advocate for the planet, and champion for environmental issues, we could not wish for a better Patron than King Charles.”