King Charles seems to have followed in the footsteps of his daughter-in-law Meghan Markle as he has appeared on a podcast episode. The monarch, 76, joined actress Cate Blanchett on a podcast to talk about the Millennium Seed Bank.
The seed bank, which was founded 25 years ago at Kew Gardens’ Wakehurst, protects plant species from being lost to climate change and environmental threats by cleaning, drying and storing steeds in walk-in freezers. These freezers are kept at minus 20 degrees and have looked after nearly 2.5 billion seeds since 2000.
The King opened the Millennium Seed Bank when he was the Prince of Wales and has been involved in its progress since, having last visited in 2019.
On the the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Unearthed podcast, the King talks about the importance of the seed bank with Cate Blanchett and Dr. Elinor Breman, Kew’s senior research leader in seed conservation.
Speaking on the podcast, the King – who has been patron of Kew since 2016 – said: “I thought it was a good excuse because I knew about the real damage that has been done to all our flower-rich meadows since the war, really.
“I think it’s wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we’ve got to speed up the process.”
The podcast was recorded on the grounds of Windsor Castle in July.