His Majesty The King has been speaking up for the planet for over 50 years.
Since he first highlighted conservation issues in February 1970, he has made dozens of speeches that have helped to raise awareness of environmental problems – from plastic pollution to global warming.
In 2020, as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, he founded RE:TV to showcase sustainable solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.
RE:TV has since made over 100 short films about innovative projects around the world, generating more than 10 million views across its website and social channels and through partnerships with the likes of Bloomberg and Waterbear.
To mark the launch of its new YouTube channel, RE:TV has produced a short film – The King’s Speech – in which a cast of 19 actors and environmentalists revisit lines from some of the inspiring speeches the King made as Prince of Wales.
Actors include Idris Elba, Glenn Close, Olivia Colman and Woody Harrelson, while environmentalists include BBC gardening presenter Danny Clarke, YouTube environmental campaigner Jack Harries and climate activist Leah Thomas.
The film begins with a stark warning of the ecological crisis we are facing, but a warmer, more optimistic tone emerges as the film develops – both through the message conveyed by the King’s words, the original score that accompanies it and the stock and archive imagery that threads it together.
Filming locations – ranging from the iconic glasshouses of Kew Gardens to the ancient woodland of Burnham Beeches – create a stunning backdrop for the King’s closing lines, delivered for the original RE:TV launch film in 2020: ‘There is real hope, but we’ve just got to get our act together’.
The film has been produced by Atomized Studios. It has been executive produced by Zad Rodgers and Dan Watt-Smith, directed by Anatole Sloan, produced by Zoe Evans and the production manager was Alana O’Neill. Music was composed by Nathan Klein and recorded live at Air Edel Studios London.
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