Why Charles is the most Kiwi King

• Published date: 25 May 2023
• Publication title: Te Puke Times

In fact, King Charles’ track record of interests and charitable endeavours make him the most Kiwi King we’ve ever seen, says Monarchy New Zealand chairman Dr Sean Palmer

“What he stands for, it resonates with New Zealand’s national character very well,” Palmer says.

Spending “70 years as [the Queen’s] understudy” made for plenty of time for the King to work towards the type of monarch he wanted to be — and that’s one that aligns with many things important to New Zealanders, believes Palmer.

“What he invested his effort in really means that we can know him better than we knew Queen Elizabeth when she came to the throne,” Palmer says of the late Queen who was crowned when she was just 25, more than 50 years younger than Charles, now 74.

Palmer says the King, who was officially crowned at his coronation at Westminster Abbey this month, has spent half a century championing certain causes, some which he was “roundly mocked for” but which now sit well with a vast majority of Kiwis and align with a collective national vision to support sustainability and better environmental outcomes.

“[King Charles] was talking about the importance of protecting and preserving the environment, saving resources, being careful about this sort of stuff back in the 60s. And, in fact, he was roundly mocked at the time for having these kooky green ideas.

“You know, people used to say, ‘Oh, Charles. He talks to plants … he’s such a quirky fellow.’ It just turned out that he was four decades ahead of the rest of the world,” Palmer says. “The rest of the world’s environmental consciousness has finally caught up to where he was.”

He also notes the King has expressed a great interest in organic farming and gone to some lengths to try to eradicate a particular pest in the UK, even calling on a Kiwi fashion brand who found a clever way to make use of our own problem creature.

Earlier this year during Princess Margaret’s trip to New Zealand, it was revealed King Charles had sought out Untouched World — famous for turning possum fur into beautiful garments — to trial making fabric out of grey squirrel fur.

According to the Daily Mail, back in 2014 the then Prince of Wales was busy backing the British Government’s plans to cull grey squirrels, which were introduced in Victorian times and have done irrevocable...