Prince of Wales gets his hands dirty by plunging them into worm-filled compost

By Victoria Ward

The Prince of Wales proved willing to get his hands dirty during a visit to a Herefordshire farm, picking up worms from a bucket of compost.

Prince William spent an hour at Lower Blakemere Farm, near Hereford – which forms part of the Duchy of Cornwall estate – to learn about its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

He appeared impressed by a worm-filled compost bin, saying: "Oh my goodness, look at that – that's amazing!"

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The Prince, dressed in a green waterproof jacket and flat cap, also clambered onto a seed drill and inspected some solar panels.

Phil and Heather Gorringe, the tenant farmers, told the Prince about the Japanese bokashi method of composting. It uses specific fermentation techniques, and inspired them to set up their Wiggly Wigglers business from their kitchen table, selling composting kits to promote sustainability.

Mrs Gorringe said afterwards: "He got right in there. He basically wanted to know how the heck it worked in terms of bokashi, which is Japanese.

"He had not heard of that, but in terms of worms he seemed really interested that it was functioning on such a small scale. He wanted to know if we could replicate that on a larger scale for farm composting."

She later told the local newspaper that the Prince was "gentle nice guy" and "miles taller than I ever imagined".

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Lower Blakemere Farm is one of seven "focus farms" chosen by the Duchy to test new, greener methods of food production and share best practices with others.

The farm, established in the early 1980s as a specialist seed grower, is home to a herd of South Devon cattle and focuses on restoring soil health and boosting biodiversity.

Mrs Gorringe said: "We are so lucky… it's good for the team, and I think also it gives you a real boost because we are a focus farm for the Duchy.

"It gives that whole thing a boost, that actually you might be being useful and on the right track. It's tough, farming, and it's tough moving to a regenerative process.

"A lot of us send our kitchen waste to landfill or centralised composting or to a bio-digestor. If you can make use of that resource at home, obviously that cuts down on carbon, reduces transport and makes something really worthwhile out of useless kitchen waste."

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The Prince inherited the Duchy, a vast land and property empire, in September 2022 on the death of his grandmother, Elizabeth II. In the financial year 2023-24, it generated profits of £23.6 million (approx. $45 million).

He has gradually introduced changes to the way the Duchy is run, reflecting his personal interests and approach, and is said to be committed to "expansive transformation".

Prince William has made significant investment to ensure the estate reaches net zero by the end of 2032 – an ambition first outlined by his father, the King, when he was Prince of Wales.

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The Duchy set up a Future Farming team in response to the scale of greenhouse gas emissions from its own farmed land. The Duchy's annual report, published last June, said the focus farms were already "becoming beacons of best practice".

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