In a battered old tweed coat and cap, knees covered in mud, this is Prince Charles at his most content.
He is pictured laying hedges at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, which three years ago he began converting to a fully organic operation.
Charles, who says a more holistic approach to farming would bring ecological and commercial benefits, shows off his handiwork in the latest edition of Country Life.
‘It has always seemed to be somewhat logical to embrace a farming system that works with nature and not against her,’ he tells the magazine.
‘At a global scale, it is becoming ever clearer to me that the very future of humanity may depend to a large extent on a mainstream transition to more sustainable farming practices.’
The prince warns that, much like the overuse of antibiotics has in humans, artificial fossil fuel-derived fertilisers and chemical pesticides are having a catastrophic effect on the soil.
For 24 years, some ten per cent of Sandringham has been run organically but now he is working towards converting the rest of the land, as well as inspiring some tenant farmers to follow suit.