King Charles shares heartbreaking wish for Prince George, Charlotte an | Royal | News

The king said he was advocating for the environment on behalf of younger generations and his grandchildren and gave hope that tackling climate change was “still possible”. Charles, who appears in a new documentary alongside adventurer Steve Backshall, describes his frustration with inaction on climate change and explains that he wants to avoid leaving “a terrible legacy of fear” that young people will have to deal with.

The 77-year-old monarch shows the public a different side of herself in a new feature-length documentary to be broadcast as part of ITV’s Christmas broadcast later this month. His passion and knowledge of the environment shines as ever, but viewers also get a new perspective on his extreme sense of adventure and dry sense of humor.

Producers hope the monarch will reach a demographic that climate campaigners cannot reach, as they aim to tell important stories while also entertaining and engaging mass audiences.

The film follows Steve Backshall as he retraces the King’s steps 50 years after his 1975 trip to the Canadian Arctic.

At just 26 years old, Prince Charles embarked on a one-of-a-kind royal tour, braving the freezing climates of the Arctic and grueling challenges like 30-minute under-ice scuba diving and skiing at 80 miles per hour.

Meeting the Deadly60 host at Buckingham Palace before heading to the North Pole, the King tells Mr Backshall: “I’m so glad you want to do this 50 years later.”

When asked what he remembers from the expedition, Charles immediately replies: “Diving under the ice. I remember that very clearly.”

The two chat while looking at archive footage, including previously unreleased photos from the King’s personal collection.

Asked if the monarch was feeling nostalgic about the trip, he said: “Yes, I think I’m too old to go back. But yes, definitely. I mean, thank God, I was younger in those days. I would never recover from it now.”

Aides had planned just 10 minutes for the King to meet the much-loved wildlife presenter, but their shared enthusiasm for preserving and protecting the planet meant the meeting lasted more than half an hour.

A source explained that they “established an extremely warm relationship and found common ground on a wide range of issues.”

A small crew of a cameraman, soundman and director spent two weeks filming the show, which showcases the natural beauty of the Arctic and the challenges it currently faces.

The King, who is highly supportive of the project, told Mr Backshall that while the Arctic was undergoing rapid and alarming changes due to climate change, warming four times faster than the global average, he was glad to see the frozen frontier “as it should be”.

Melting ice and melting permafrost are significantly disrupting ecosystems and threatening wildlife such as polar bears and seals. The wildlife presenter goes to the Coronation Glacier and shows that the terminal has retreated almost 1.5 km in the last half century.

“The only place where climate change becomes an absolute reality is on a glacier like this,” Mr. Backshall says. “Where I am now, all this ice will be gone in about ten years. And this huge glacier, one of the most beautiful places you can ever see, is affected by our world, our lives, our choices. Scientists warn us to ignore these melting glaciers at our peril.”

King, who believes everything in nature is interconnected, tells Mr Backshall that indigenous peoples play an important role in securing the future of the planet. “Their knowledge is now absolutely crucial to help salvage the situation,” he says.

Shown archive footage of himself driving at 50 miles per hour on snow, Kral said: “It was quite exciting. There’s no point in going too slow.” Mr Backshall then tried to match the monarch’s pace but could not even manage to reach 40 miles per hour.

Perhaps the most impressive of the then-prince’s achievements on his 1975 voyage was ice diving, in which he plunged into a hole cut in the sea ice.

Surprised that his security team allowed him to dive under a meter of ice, the King joked: “I’m afraid I’ve always tended to live life dangerously.”

Footage later shows Charles underwater in a bright red wetsuit: “It was a fascinating experience, I wouldn’t miss a thing.”

Dive master Joe Macinnis, who accompanied the King under the ice, kept the uniform the entire time and revealed Charles had some fun in the freezing water.

When it was time to resurface, the monarch emerged at the top with an umbrella and a bowler hat in hand. “I thought it would be pretty fun to come back wearing the hat,” Charles told the presenter. “So I thought, it’s a chance to fool around.”

In archive footage, the King told the interviewer it was “very cold” and sparked laughter when he stretched his suit as wide as he could.

Mr. Backshall concludes the program by saying that while the trip highlighted an important reason for the concert, he also found “a great determination to ensure that this magnificent land, and ultimately the planet itself, has a healthy future.”

King, an environmental champion for more than fifty years, echoes this, saying, “We have to believe that this is still possible. Because you have to have hope. But you have to take action to provide that hope. So, all I can do is behind the scenes. But seriously, it can be very frustrating, to say the least.”

He continues: “I care about what the younger generations are worth. It’s not fair for me to leave them with something much worse than I found it, if you know what I mean. The one thing I’ve always felt is that I want to improve this for people so that they don’t have a legacy of terrible fear that they have to deal with. That’s why I spent all these years, because I don’t want to be accused by my grandchildren of not doing anything about it. That’s the key.”

The King had previewed the documentary earlier in the year and was apparently happy with the final edit.

Steve Backshall’s Royal Arctic Challenge airs on Thursday, December 18 at 8.30pm on ITV1.