Buckingham Palace has released footage of a 21-year-old King Charles delivering a speech on environmental challenges to mark London Climate Action Week.
The footage, which can be viewed on the Royal Family's official social media channels, depicts a young then-Prince of Wales delivering one of his first-ever public speeches, dating back to 1970.
The clip comes from the film Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, a landmark documentary navigating King Charles's journey as an environmentalist through his work with The King’s Foundation.
Speaking to an audience in Cardiff more than 50 years ago, the King said: "We are faced at this moment with the horrifying effects of pollution, in all its cancerous forms.
"There is the growing menace of oil pollution at sea.
"There is chemical pollution, discharged into rivers from factories and chemical plants, which clogs up the rivers with toxic substances, and adds to the filth in the seas."
At the time, the monarch had just introduced The Prince of Wales Countryside Award, which was to be presented to organisations that have promoted projects that provide a contribution to the "general quality and beauty of the environment in Wales".
Later in the clip, the King can be seen watching his poignant speech in the present day, where he reflected that it was "quite a long time ago," but added: "I remember being profoundly concerned about all this."
"It seemed crazy to go on without thinking carefully about how we manage all this," he said.
King Charles has championed environmentalism for more than five decades, his dedication never wavering.
To mark 50 years since the now iconic speech was delivered, in 2020, the King reflected on why supporting nature has been important to him for so many years.
"We simply cannot waste any more time – the only limit is our willingness to act, and the time to act is now," he told an audience at Davos, where he met young activist Greta Thunberg.
Even when he ascended to the throne in 2022, many expected his focus on horticulture and the environment to take a back seat, according to long-time friend and legendary broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh.
"Nothing could have been further from the truth," Mr Titchmarsh admitted.
Earlier this week, the monarch hosted 250 distinguished guests at St James's Palace for a significant gathering dedicated to addressing super pollutants.
Included in the guest list were UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
And the reception, held in the Throne Room and arranged by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, drew significant praise from Cop29 president Mukhtar Babayev.
Azerbaijan's ambassador to London, Elin Suleymanov, shared the Cop29 chief's sentiments on social media, declaring: "His Majesty The King's commitment to environment is a global inspiration."
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