The Green King - how a future State visit might put the spotlight on ag
The King and Ireland. King Charles met with farmers when he visited the Burren in Co Clare in 2015. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie
A future State visit to Ireland by King Charles III would put an increased focus on organic farming, biodiversity, and rural lifestyles.
A pioneering champion of sustainable agriculture, and a defender of the rural environment for over 50 years, “The Green King”, as he is now known, will be crowned on Saturday beside his wife, Queen Camilla.
He wrote in the British publication some years ago that the rich natural tapestry that is the countryside does not just happen by itself:
“It is the product of many generations of human activity, working in harmony with the natural world. But that delicately woven tapestry is facing unprecedented challenges.
The then Prince of Wales wrote that he could not see a viable future for the countryside that does not have the farmer, a vital element in food production, at the front and centre of the picture.
He warned that the challenges are only going to become more intense as the world struggles to feed a growing population, while at the same time, accelerating climate change makes it more difficult – unless farming systems become more resilient.
“As far as I am concerned, it would not only be folly to lose agricultural land, it would be equally foolish to use it in ways that are not environmentally sustainable in the long term,” he said.
King Charles recently recalled that he was regarded as “a complete idiot” after he converted his farm and estate – Highgrove in Gloucestershire – to organic farming methods in 1985.
Driving change for more sustainable farming and highlighting the need to keep rural towns and villages as both living and working places with small farms playing a central role were among his campaigns over the years.
Leading by example, he raised cattle, pigs and sheep using organic methods on his Highgrove estate while continuing to talk about the need for a shift in agriculture.
“The very future of humanity may depend to a very large extent on a mainstream transition to more sustainable farming practices, based of course on organic principles,” he said.
He has described gardening as “the most therapeutic business, recalling that he first became interested when he and his sister Princess Anne had their own plot at Buckingham Palace “where we grew vegetables and things.”
During a 2010 visit to the Irish Embassy in London, he said he always comes back from a visit to this country with his spirits raised from having met Irish people. “I don’t know what it is. It is very special and I’m not just saying that. I mean it,” he said.
He returned to the same theme during a 2018 visit to the southwest. Speaking in Cork, he said: “I know - and coming here for the last four years has confirmed to me - just how important we are to each other, at the end of the day.
Apart from anything else, the agricultural exports from this country to the United Kingdom are enormous, and of huge importance; tourism from the U.K. to Ireland is also of enormous importance and so of course are horses and everything to do with racing,” he said.
The royal couple last visited the Republic in March last year. Charles joined primary school children for an educational session at the Grow It Yourself centre in Waterford.
He told the children that food always tastes better if you grow it yourself and helped them to plant potatoes.
The then Prince of Wales also spent time on the dairy farm of Glanbia milk supplier Shane Fitzgerald, and his dad John at Portlaw, in the shadows of the Comeragh mountains.
He met staff and farmers from the Teagasc Signpost programme, a campaign to lead climate action by all Irish farmers. He also discussed the future of agriculture in Ireland with Macra Na Feirme members.
Camilla, meanwhile, travelled to Henry De Bromhead racing stables in Knockeen, where she met and patted the horses. She chatted with the trainer and the stable's celebrated jockey Rachael Blackmore.
The royals also spent time in Cahir at a Farmers’ Market run by the Tipperary Food Producers Network. They chatted with stall holders including cheese makers, beekeepers, fruit farmers and butchers.
Network chairman Con Traas said with Prince Charles having such a vested interest in small, family-run farms, it was clear to see his passion as he spoke with the producers.
The royal couple have visited the Republic regularly in recent years, with one tour a year between 2015-2019. Prior to that, Prince Charles was here on solo trips in 1995 and 2002.
He has been to Northern Ireland on 40 occasions and has now visited 21 of the 32 counties on the island and aims to travel to the remaining 11.
During his visits, he has met with food producers, walked farms, attended local markets, visited national parks, had at go at ploughing a furrow and fulfilled a long-held ambition to see The Burren, one of Europe’s most important limestone landscapes.
Farming with nature is just one of the King’s many interests. It is likely to form an important part of the itinerary for any future State visit to what he described in Waterford last year as “this majestic land.”
