Prince Philip speaks at World Conference on Pollution in 1970

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Prince Charles hosted commemorations honouring his late father on the Sandringham Estate, where Prince Philip spent most of his retirement years. The Prince of Wales came together on November 25 with the chairman and chief executive of an organisation close to the Duke of Edinburgh’s heart, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).

The Trust donated to the Sandringham estate 60 common lime trees Tilia Europaea Pallida to create a new natural avenue to mark the late Duke’s commitment to GWCT.

During the private event, Prince Charles joined the Trust’s chairman Sir Jim Paice DL and CEO Teresa Dent CBE in planting the first of the trees, which will become in time a wildlife habitat on the estate.

The Prince of Wales was photographed digging a hole for the tree in casual attire, including a green jacket, beige trousers and a tartan flat cap.

With this present, the Trust acknowledged the Duke’s pioneering interest and work with conservation and his 57-year-long involvement with the charity. 

The Duke of Edinburgh was president of GWCT from 1965 to 1973 and later became its patron, a role he retained until his death in April.

During these decades, Philip took an active interest in the Trust’s conservation science and made several visits to its demonstration farms in Leicestershire and Aberdeenshire as well as to its headquarters in Hampshire.

Sir Jim marked the event saying: “GWCT trustees and vice-presidents chose to gift a new avenue of trees at Sandringham as a fitting tribute to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s remarkable contribution to the Trust and to conservation as a whole.

“The conservation movement and the GWCT, in particular, may have lost an extraordinary champion, but we are delighted to help assure his legacy at Sandringham today.” 

The Trust is an independent charity focused on wildlife conservation which has been carrying out scientific research since the 1930s.

Its members, including 22 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff focused on different area of expertise, advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats.

The Duke was particularly close to the Sandringham Estate, where in the mid-2000s he started planting truffles.

Following his retirement from royal duties in August 2017, the Queen’s husband made a five-bedroom home on the estate his main residence.  

Prince Philip has been at the helm of several organisations focused on protecting nature, including the WWF, and has been praised by experts for taking an interest in conservation before it being regarded a mainstream issue.

Naturalist Sir David Attenborough said in April: “He was right there at the beginning at a time when conservation didn’t mean much to many people.

“Even in the 1950s and 1960s, he saw it universally.

“The World Wildlife Fund owed a huge amount to his presence.  

“When he spoke about conservation, he spoke about it with passion and knowledge.”

Last month, the Queen publicly paid tribute to her late husband’s passion for the environment in a video message delivered during the evening reception of COP26.

She said: “It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. I could not be more proud of them.”

Eight months after the death of her husband, the Queen is now preparing to spend her first Christmas in seven decades without him. 

A source has claimed the monarch, who suffered health issues last month, has assured her extended family she is doing “far better” and wants to host a get together at Sandringham as she started doing in the late 1980s.

The source told the Mirror: “The Queen has told everyone she is feeling far better of late and is very much looking forward to welcoming them for Christmas.

“Like many other families, this will be the first time Her Majesty can gather with her extended family after being kept apart for so long due to the coronavirus pandemic.”   

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