(Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Jayne Fincher)
On February 19, 1970, at 21, Prince Charles delivered his first significant environmental speech. The then Prince of Wales has been an outspoken supporter of climate action ever since. He married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, over ten years later. The princess was well-known for her love of beauty and fashion. According to the Daily Mail, a fervent environmentalist—detested one cosmetic item Diana cherished.
And when he outright prohibited it from their royal house, it became the source of their conflict. “Diana was very funny when Charles first talked about the Ozone layer,” royal author Ingrid Seward recalled. “He said, “You must stop using your aerosol hair spray” and she said “Why?”
At an environmental awards ceremony in 1988, the future king acknowledged that his decision had infuriated Princess Diana. “I personally as I become older and more autocratic have banned the use of aerosols in my household,” he said, as reported by UPI Archives. “Trouble still remains in finding adequate and good enough alternatives to hair spray as I’m sure all husbands will find.”
Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine recounted while appearing on the documentary Charles: Our New King that the late princess thought her husband had gone mad “because he claimed that aerosols were making a hole in the ozone layer.”
Ayesha Hazarika, journalist and broadcaster supported Charles’s views while praising his avant-garde nature in the documentary, “People thought King Charles was some kind of crank for talking about the environment. Why is he talking about organic farming, this all seems a bit crackers,” she said. According to the UPI Archives, in 1989 the then Prince of Wales while skiing at the Swiss resort of Klosters penned a strong message about the ozone layer’s depletion.
Buckingham Palace revealed that he gave an impassioned speech at a high-profile dinner for representatives of the 124-nation “Saving the Ozone Layer” conference held at the British Museum. “The seas are fast becoming sewers. We make poisons so powerful we don’t know where to put them. The rainforests are being turned into deserts,” he said.
“If we can stop the sky turning into a microwave oven, we will still face the prospect of living in a garbage dump.” In keeping with his stance, the king recently addressed the G20 leaders in Rome, drawing their attention to the threats posed by climate change and urging them to take action to protect the environment for coming generations.
“It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you [the leaders of the G20] as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands,” he said during the rare appearance as a royal member to a world summit as per Sky News.
King Charles is the recipient of many environmental awards most prominently the Global Environmental Citizen Award in 2007. He also founded The Prince’s Trust, which encourages communities and businesses to adopt sustainable practices. The charity has provided funding for projects including urban farming and renewable energy projects.
