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The King has said he hopes humanity will realise it is part of nature before he “shuffles off this mortal coil”.
Speaking in Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, an Amazon Prime documentary, the 77-year-old reiterates the desire that his lifelong commitment to the environment will make a difference.
At the end of the 90-minute film about his philosophy of “harmony” and its impact, the monarch 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 again.”
The phrase “shuffle off this mortal coil” comes from the famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy in Act II, Scene 1 of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare.
Its meaning is to cast off the troubles of being alive, but it is used in modern contexts as another way to say “to die”.
The King, arguably the country’s best-known horticulturist, reveals that when he planted beech trees at Highgrove he thought he would “never live to see” them grow so high.
Walking in the gardens of his Gloucestershire home, he says: “The beeches I’d planted right at the beginning – and I can’t believe how much they’ve grown, if you think what it was like.
“I thought I’d never live to see it. The fact that I have, is praise be to God, frankly.”
His Majesty, who was diagnosed with cancer almost two years ago, has made environmentalism, sustainability and the championing of the natural world part of his life’s mission.
At times, he has been criticised for his strong views on the issue.
The documentary, narrated by the actress Kate Winslet, notes that the King made “regular keynote speeches despite cries from some that he should take a back seat”.
Interviewees in the documentary recall that the monarch’s outspoken views on issues ranging from the built environment to organic farming “upset a lot of people in authority”.
But against the backdrop of footage of his speeches at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences, The King insists in the film that he was never going to “be diverted”.
He defends his outspoken methods for instigating change, saying: “I just felt that this was the approach, that I was instinctive. It was a course I set and I wasn’t going to be diverted I’m afraid.”
The documentary charts how the King was “dismissed as crazy” for this passion early on, citing his first significant speech on the issue, when he was 21, and a 1986 TV interview in which he said it was “very important” to talk to plants.
Winslet describes how the plants comment has “haunted him ever since,” with Ian Skelly, co-author of the monarch’s 2010 Harmony book adding: “Those criticisms really upset him.
“He got treated very unfairly, seen very unfairly, and those of us that knew him better were quite upset by that.”
Added to job description
The King’s work on championing the natural world has been such a tenet of his working life that it was even added to his job description as monarch.
In last year’s Sovereign Grant report, the King’s role as “Head of Nation” was redefined to include four key themes, including that of “environmental sustainability”.
Throughout the last half a century, he has been outspoken about the subject in interviews, documentaries, his foundation’s work and key speeches.
In one ITV documentary about the Arctic, he told Steve Backshall, the environmentalist, that he did not want to be accused by his grandchildren of failing to act to save the planet and leaving them a “ghastly legacy of horror”.
The King has also used his power as a member of the Royal family to bring people together to find solutions to the issues facing the planet, something that the Amazon film celebrates.
The film shows that, despite the criticism, the King has put his ambitious goals and philosophy into practice through the King’s Foundation, the charity he set up in 1990 as an “experiment”.
Filmed in Scotland and Gloucestershire
Filming for the documentary took place throughout last year at Dumfries House, the foundation’s Scottish headquarters, as well as at Highgrove, the King’s long-time Gloucestershire home where students learn an array of heritage crafts and skills.
One clip shows His Majesty collecting fresh eggs from a chicken coop on the 1,000-acre estate, which he has called “Cluckingham Palace”.
The King also discusses the importance of rescuing rare cultivated plants, something he has showcased at Highgrove.
While walking around the gardens he has nurtured since 1980, he says: “I wanted to find ways of ensuring that you could rescue all these threatened heritage varieties.
“Everything, all the vegetables, potatoes, cauliflower, peas, beans… I mean, a lot of them were being just abandoned.
“So, I did my utmost to have as many rare breeds here as possible to demonstrate how valuable they are, because it was concentrating on just a few varieties makes us unbelievably vulnerable, as we’re finding, to disease and everything else.”
He also provides a tip to viewers, telling them that if “you want to have decent baked potatoes, you’ve got to get the crispy skins, so the red Duke of Yorks are really good”.
A spokesman for the king said the film was spokesman was “not a conventional royal documentary”, explaining that “there are no golden carriages here; no glittering crowns or crimson robes”.
Instead, it is a “deeply personal exploration of ideas that have shaped His Majesty’s life and work”, the spokesman said.
The film is part of a concerted effort by Buckingham Palace to promote the King’s work and ideas to a wider audience, marking a notable shift in the Royal family’s approach to television.
Released on Amazon Prime on Feb 6, it aims to “show, not tell” how the monarch’s ideas can inspire change in communities and the environment.
It will become the first film to be premiered at a royal residence, in Windsor Castle’s Waterloo Room, on Wednesday evening.
A host of A-list guests will join the King and Queen, as well as the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, at the event, including Winslet, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dame Judi Dench and Alan Titchmarsh.
