Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett has teamed up with King Charles on a podcast to discuss an important cause - the Millennium Seed Bank. The pair sat down to talk about the world-renowned and innovative seed bank and its vital role in preserving nature. For King Charles, the appearance marks his second podcast feature this year, following his March special on Apple Music, where he shared some of his favorite songs. For Cate, who has been involved with Prince William's Earthshot Prize since its inception, the project offered a fresh opportunity to collaborate with another member of the royal family.
The Millennium Seed Bank was founded 25 years ago with the goal of protecting plant species from being lost to climate change and environmental threats. Since its launch in 2000, nearly 2.5 billion seeds from more than 40,000 species have been carefully cleaned, dried and stored in walk-in freezers at minus 20 degrees in Wakehurst. Charles opened the Millennium Seed Bank and has taken an active interest in its progress since, returning to visit in 2019.
The podcast, titled Unearthed, comes from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the institution that manages the Millennium Seed Bank. Cate and King Charles were also joined by Dr. Elinor Breman, Kew's senior research leader in seed conservation, for the recording, which took place in Windsor in July.
Cate, who is an ambassador for Wakehurst, said in the podcast, "There is an urgency to the work that the seed bank does. I was shocked to learn that 97% of the wildflower meadows have been decimated. I don't think it's something that we quite understand here, because we look around us and in the immediate term, we see so much natural beauty. But we don't think how fragile it is."
During the 22-minute chat, King Charles agreed that the work of the seedbank is vital in preserving biodiversity for future generations. "I thought it was a good excuse because I knew about the real damage that has been done to all our flower-rich meadows since the war, really," he said. King Charles added that he was "very proud" to be a patron of Kew, saying: "I think it's wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we've got to speed up the process."
Their discussion turned to the role of the pharmaceutical industry in protecting plant life, given that so many medicines originate from the botanical world. King Charles noted that it was "surely in their interest to invest in the protection, enhancement, and restoration of the biodiversity" from which countless treatments have been developed.
Cate added that she is frustrated that "there's so many extraordinary initiatives right there ready to be scaled up. There's a willingness there, but there's just, there's not the direction of the funds."
The King said, "And there's that lack of awareness too, as you were saying about the actual detail of all these things."