The Prince of Wales hopes to become the Prince of Sales with a new book and documentary film about the need for increased environmental stewardship and the threat that big business poses for the environment. Britain’s Prince Charles, a longtime advocate of sustainable practices such as organic farming, plans to donate his advance for the book, plus a share of the royalties he receives from publisher HarperCollins, to his charitable foundation.
The book and the film, both titled “Harmony” and co-authored by former Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper, are scheduled for release in 2010. A children’s picture book version will be published in 2011.
"I believe that true sustainability depends fundamentally upon us shifting our perception and widening our focus, so that we understand, again, that we have a sacred duty of stewardship of the natural order of things," Prince Charles said in a statement. "If we could rediscover that sense of harmony; that sense of being a part of, rather than apart from nature, we would perhaps be less likely to see the world as some sort of gigantic production system, capable of ever-increasing outputs for our benefit – at no cost."
It’s inevitable that Prince Charles’ “Harmony” will be compared to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” the best-selling book and Oscar-winning film that led to a Nobel Peace Prize for Gore, but His Royal Highness is no environmental also ran. The prince, who has gained international recognition as one of the world’s leading conservationists, has been sounding the alarm about global warming since 1990 and turning his environmental beliefs into action for most of his adult life.
“Harmony” will be the second book to carry the royal byline. In 1970, Prince Charles published “The Old Man of Lochnagar,” a children’s book he wrote as a gift to his younger brothers.
Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images
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