The King is taking part in a new documentary, Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, out today, which charts his decades-long dedication to the environment. Throughout the Prime Video film, we see how King Charles has championed conservation and warned of the issues of climate change throughout his life. From delivering one of his first public speeches at 21 on the dangers of pollution, to cultivating his own pesticide free gardening experiments, the film charts his commitment to what he calls ‘harmony’: the idea that we are a part of nature, not apart from it.
Throughout the film, we see King Charles behind-the-scenes at home and in his gardens, as well as archive footage of the extended Royal Family from across the years. The clips reveal some unexpected details about the famous family, and we’ve rounded up some of the most surprising details we’ve learned from the new film which you might not have spotted…
Chris Jackson
Princess Anne and The King’s were best friends growing up
In the film, we see charming colour as well as black and white footage of King Charles and his youngest sister, Princess Anne, as children. It’s clear the two were the best of friends growing up. Clips show the two chasing each other and a calf in a field, picking flowers together, and even being buried up to their necks in sand while a corgi sits between their grinning faces.
The royal hen house is called ‘Cluckingham Palace’
Back in the present day, King Charles takes the camera for a wander round his garden (or rather, grounds) as he goes to collect eggs from his hens. We follow him, basket in hand, as he makes his way to the hen house and, as he opens the door, we catch a glimpse of a witty sign on the door which reads ‘Cluckingham Palace’.
Queen Elizabeth II captured her own home videos
The King’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II features regularly in the film via archive footage, and even shoots some of her own. Sitting on the grass, she holds up a camera to film a young King Charles toddling towards her, wearing a set of adorable red dungarees.
The King talks to trees
Throughout the film, we see how The King was pressured away from talking about environmental issues, and even ridiculed for his comments about talking to plants while in nature. Shots show clippings from newspaper articles which went as far as to say he was ‘completely off his trolley’. However, reflecting on the pressure he got to move away from his cause back in the present day, The King says, ‘I just felt this was the course I’d set which I should stick to. I wasn’t going to be diverted, I’m afraid.’
The male family members wore kilts to play outside 
Lisa Sheridan
There are lots of clips showing The King playing in nature during his childhood, and jumping alongside lakes wearing a kilt – presumably while in Scotland. In a nostalgic moment of mirroring, we see King Charles’ late father, Prince Philip, also wearing a kilt and teaching his oldest son to fish. In the next clip, we see King Charles standing on the edge of a lake with a fishing rode decades late, showing his own son the same skill..
King Charles finds squirrels hilarious
In a charming and unexpected clip, we see a red squirrel hop its way towards an open window, much to the joy of the The King. Chuckling at the woodland creature, King Charles says that he finds squirrels ‘so funny’ and admits, ‘they really do make me laugh’.
The Royal Family watch telly together
The Royal Family may have grown up in palaces with countless grand rooms, they proved they were just like the rest of us when it came to a cosy night in. In archive footage, we see members of the family gathered together around a boxy television, with a young King Charles (in his teens or twenties) chatting and laughing next to his grandmother, The Queen Mother.
Lisa Sheridan
The King and his grandmother in 1950.
The Queen Mother and King Charles were exceptionally close
Another touching moment involving The Queen Mother reveals just how close King Charles was to her. In a clip, we see him and Princess Anne collecting flowers with their grandmother as children, and King Charles presents a bloom to his grandmother to attach to her dress. Reflecting on the relationship in the present day, The King says, his grandmother was a ‘remarkable person’ who he ‘adored’, adding that she had ‘the most wonderful, mischievous sense of everything’.
Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision is available to stream on Prime Video now
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