Keen gardener Prince Charles is well known for being green fingered, but the heir to the throne was sporting a rather more unusual hue on Monday when he opened a new £1.2 million nature reserve in north Wiltshire. Much to the amusement of onlookers, the Prince donned a fetching lilac-coloured pair of gardening gloves to help with the planting, after a mischievous Camilla picked up the green pair intended for Charles and left the women's lilac ones for her husband.
Smiling at Camilla's cheeky appropriation, Charles, who is Patron of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, joined in the planting of common spotted orchids to mark the inauguration of the Lower Moor Farm nature reserve. The Prince also took a stroll through a wildflower meadow and, in a speech, pledged his support to a proposal to buy up farmland along the edge of the Cotswolds to create an extensive conservation area for wildlife and traditional meadows.
The Prince - who is a high-profile environmental campaigner - also drew attention to the effects of global warming on Britain's traditional landscape. "The growing impact of climate change, with natural systems being disrupted, means increasingly our landscapes are not fit to cope anymore. Small, isolated pockets can no longer provide the protection needed for wildlife," he said.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
