King Charles rolled out the green carpet this week as the great and the good arrived at Windsor Castle to watch a new film on his environmental campaigning.
Charles, 77, hosted the first film premiere in a royal residence as stars including Kate Winslet and Dame Judi Dench arrived for the screening, reports The Sun.
Also among the A-listers for the 90-minute documentary were Sir Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster as well as Benedict Cumberbatch and his other half Sophie Hunter.
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Adding extra star quality were Sir Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci.
Before the screening in Windsor’s Waterloo Chamber, the audience stood for the King and Queen Camilla, who, in keeping with the theme, wore a green dress by Anna Valentine plus a brooch from the King’s Foundation.
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Winslet, the film’s narrator, said: “Your Majesty, it is thanks to your great vision and foresight in protecting our natural world we’re all here this evening”.
“Filming may have taken place across a short six months, but Your Majesty I know that for you, this documentary has been a lifetime in the making.”
The documentary, Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, explores the origins, evolution and scientific foundations of Charles’ harmony philosophy as set out in a 2010 book.
It follows him through the speeches he gave in his 20s on green issues and shows off his achievements at the royal estates of Highgrove and Sandringham and at Dumfries House, Scotland.
Despite illustrating how he was years ahead of public opinion on the merits of growing and eating organic produce, the Amazon Prime Video film recalls how he was teased over his views.
Winslet says: “While explaining his passion for organic gardening to the press, Prince Charles made a comment that has haunted him ever since”.
It is a reference to a 1986 interview in which he said: “I just come and talk to the plants, really — very important to talk to them, they respond”.
Ian Skelly, co-author of the King’s book, Harmony: A New Way Of Looking At Our World, said: “Those criticisms really upset him”.
“He got treated very unfairly, seen very unfairly.
“Those of us that knew him better were quite upset by that. It was difficult to know how to respond. I really felt for him.”
While discussing organic growing, His Majesty is seen in the film admiring spuds growing in his gardens at Highgrove, Gloucestershire
He says: “If you want a decent baked potato, which I love, you’ve got to have the crispy skins”.
He is also filmed carrying a basket to collect eggs from a coop which has on its door a sign reading Cluckingham Palace.
The film also features footage of Princes William and Harry with their father.
And in it, dairy farmer Patrick Holden, CEO of the Sustainable Food Trust, tells the documentary: “Jamie Oliver said he (Charles) was a bit of a hippy and I think that’s probably true”.
Charles is also seen watching archive footage of his campaigning speeches.
Describing his harmony philosophy, he says: “It all boils down to the fact that we are actually nature ourselves. We are a part of it, not apart from it, which is really how things are being presented for so long”.
“Maybe, by the time I shuffle off this mortal coil, there might be a little more awareness of the need to bring things back together.”
He also recounts that he “wasn’t going to be diverted” from his campaigning despite the criticism he faced over the decades.
A spokesman for the King said the film was not a conventional royal documentary.
He added: “There are no golden carriages here; no glittering crowns or crimson robes”.
“Instead, this is a deeply personal exploration of ideas that have shaped His Majesty’s life and work: the interconnectedness of all things, the wisdom of traditional knowledge, and the belief that we can build a future that works in partnership with nature.”
The film, produced in conjunction with the King’s Foundation, is believed to be his first documentary with a streaming platform.
It will be available in more than 240 countries and territories next month. The Harmony book will be republished in March.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
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