“I think it’s wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we’ve got to speed up the process,” says His Majesty King Charles III, as special guest on Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank 25th birthday podcast hosted by Cate Blanchett

Release date: 20 October 2025

King Charles III recording Unearthed: The need for seeds at Windsor
  • Rare opportunity to hear The King in conversation about the Millennium Seed Bank achievements since His Majesty opened it in 2000
  • Highlights his lifelong commitment to conservation and nature sharing his personal passion and support for the MSB
  • Recorded at Windsor Castle with Cate Blanchett and Kew seed scientist, Dr Elinor Breman
  • The Millennium Seed Bank, at Kew’s wild botanic garden Wakehurst in Sussex, holds world’s most diverse collection of wild plant seeds with solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change 

Under strict embargo until 20 October 2025: His Majesty The King, Patron of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, joins podcast series host, Cate Blanchett, Kew’s Ambassador for Wakehurst, for a special podcast episode launching Kew’s fourth Unearthed series. 
 
Out today, Unearthed: The need for seeds podcast marks 25 years of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), the most significant wild seed bank in the world, and home to some of the planet’s most precious biodiversity. Many of the tiny seeds held there hold solutions to climate change and habitat loss that are vital for the future of our planet. 
 
In The King’s second ever podcast recording, the trio discussed the MSB and its origins, some of the most exciting achievements in the past 25 years as well as ongoing work around the world today, including in Australia and South Africa. Elinor brought plants, seeds and conservation test kits to show The King and they spoke about the future potential for the project to have even greater impact. Together they reminisced about the origins of seed science, and The King demonstrated his knowledge of the science and practice of conservation techniques. 
 
King Charles opened the Millennium Seed Bank, located at Kew’s wild botanic garden in Wakehurst, Sussex, in 2000 and has taken an active interest in its progress since, returning to visit in 2019. He has a deep connection to the natural world and has spent decades dedicated to conservation and philanthropic work. 
 
Soundbites from the episode include: 
 
King Charles III:  

‘I think it’s wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we’ve got to speed up the process.’ 

‘I’m very proud to be a patron of Kew. That’s the great thing. It does wonderful work.’ 
 
Cate Blanchett:  

‘There is an urgency to the work that the seed bank does here in this country. 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 about how fragile it is.’ 

‘...the only frustration for me about inaction on climate change is that there's so many extraordinary initiatives right there ready to be scaled up. There's a willingness there, but there's just not the direction of the funds.’ 

‘“Your  example  and  your  activity  in  this  space  have  been [,  I  mean,  they're]  legendary so thank you.” 
 
Dr Elinor Breman:  

‘And nature is resilient and if we give her the chance she will come back.’ 

‘I do think there's an education piece in that people take plants for granted still, despite your years of work and others. They don't understand their relevance to the life, to the fact that literally the air we breathe would not be here without the plants.’ 
 
Cate Blanchett says: ‘Recording the podcast was an absolute joy. It was also revelatory. I witnessed the invaluable science that is undertaken around the clock by the dedicated team at Wakehurst and their partners across the world. The real and ever-growing threats to our precious planet must be addressed and the work of the Millennium Seed Bank is a linchpin for our collective “Thrival”. Seeds may be tiny, but they are of monumental importance to us all.’ 
 
Recorded by Fresh Air Production for RBG Kew, the special episode released on 20 October is followed by a new three-part series looking at the past, present and future of the Millennium Seed Bank. The series takes listeners on a unique journey with Cate as she follows Kew scientists and their partners pushing the boundaries of seed biology research, joins seed collectors in the field, helps to bank seeds, speaks to MSB experts and global partners and learns how seeds are being sent to space. 
 
The Millennium Seed Bank was originally set up using Millennium Funds* to combat the effects of biodiversity loss and climate change and ensure the world’s plants were safeguarded for future generations. With 45% of all flowering plants at risk of extinction, and the planet facing tougher challenges as each decade passes, its purpose has become increasingly important for people and planet.  
 
Since its opening, the MSB has collaborated with 279 partners in over 100 countries to bank nearly 2.5 billion seeds from over 40,000 species. 
 
To listen to the podcast, visit Unearthed: The need for seeds. 

ENDS 

Images 

  • Unearthed podcast recording with King Charles III and Cate Blanchett at Windsor (credit as captioned): https://we.tl/t-7IKO01WTLP
  • HRH The Prince of Wales at the Millennium Seed Bank in 2000 and 2019, and general MSB pics (credit as captioned): https://we.tl/t-kobVwxeaIA  

 

Podcast assets 

The podcast will be available on this link when the embargo lifts: https://unearthed.lnk.to/theneedsforseedspu 

 

Timeline of King Charles III interactions with Kew:  

  • 25 May 1995: Visit to Wakehurst.
  • 1995: Official visit to mark the opening of the Evolution House (now Davies Exploration House) and tour of the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
  • 19 November 2000: His Royal Highness officially opened the Millennium Seed Bank
  • 26 July 2016: Announced as Kew’s Patron, the first of its modern incarnation.
  • 17 May 2017: Attended the launch of the annual State of the World’s Plants report and viewed the Great Broad Walk Borders
  • 12 July 2018: Visited Kew to celebrate the restoration of the Temperate House, the world’s largest surviving Victorian glasshouse, and the Great Pagoda, restored by Historic Royal Palaces.
  • 10 July 2019: Visited to the Millennium Seed Bank and Wakehurst. Inside the MSB, His Royal Highness visited the Surviving or Thriving exhibition and the underground seed vault where he learnt more about the processes involved in freezing seeds and the Crop Wild Relatives project. The visit progressed outside to the nursery and propagation area, and the visit ended at Wakehurst’s stunning Coronation Meadow, created in response to a request by His Royal Highness for wild meadows to be planted in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.
  • 20 February 2020: Attended a Plant Health and Biosecurity Conference, hosted by RBG Kew, and attended a reception for fellow speakers, attendees and guests.
  • 28 September 2021: Visits RBG Kew ahead of COP26 alongside the President of Gabon.  Joined by CEOs from his Sustainable Markets Initiative, he met botanists and scientists at Kew to hear about the vital conservation work they are undertaking and how it can relate to business. As part of this visit, which took in the Herbarium and Jodrell Laboratory, the then heir to the throne called for a greater focus on "critical" biodiversity.
  • 13 May 2025: Attended The Elephant Family’s Evening of Art and Conservation at Kew Gardens, alongside Queen Camilla. 

 

MSB key facts and figures: 

  • The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is the largest ex situ wild plant conservation programme in the world.
  • The MSB is widely considered the most biodiverse spot on Earth due to the number of species stored there.
  • Most of the seed collections in the Millennium Seed Bank are also stored in a seed bank in their country of origin.
  • 92% of the collections at the MSB have come directly from the wild.
  • Seeds are held in dry rooms at 18°C and 15% relative humidity ahead of being packed and stored in the vaults at -20°C.
  • A seed’s lifespan is doubled for every 1% reduction in its moisture content and for every 5°C drop in temperature.
  • Recalcitrant seeds (those that cannot tolerate drying or freezing) require new techniques to be banked. Cryopreservation protocols using liquid nitrogen are being developed to expand this.
  • Most of the UK’s bankable native wild plant species are represented in the MSB’s collections.
  • The MSB building is floodproof, radiation-proof, designed to withstand an airplane crash, and is protected by many alarms and automated systems.
  • How many seeds? There are nearly 2.5 billion seeds banked at the MSB.
  • How many species? There are approximately 40,000 different species of wild plants banked.
  • What’s the smallest seed? The smallest seeds banked measure just 0.07 mm across and belong to the Chinese ground orchid (Bletilla striata).
  • What’s the largest seed? The largest seeds banked are those of Hyphaene thebaica, a species of palm tree collected and banked by the National Agricultural Research Center Jordan and duplicated to the MSB. These seeds measure 7–8.5 cm in length and are so large that germination tests on the collection had to be done in larger plastic boxes.
  • How many countries and territories have seeds been collected from? The MSB’s collections come from 190 countries and territories. 

 

Notes to editors: 

*The £80m Millennium Seed Bank facility at Wakehurst opened in 2000 and was originally set up using a mix of charitable funding, including Millennium Funds to tackle the effect of biodiversity loss, climate change, and to protect the world’s threatened plants for future generation. The Millennium Funds were distributed by the Millennium Commission, a public body set up to celebrate the turn of the Millennium with funding raised through the UK National Lottery. It helped to support a number of endeavours across the UK, including the Tate Modern in London, the Falkirk Wheel in Falkirk, the Eden Project in Cornwall, and a variety of other cultural and scientific projects. The Millennium Seed Bank received approximately £30m from the Millennium Commission and £9.2m from the Wellcome Trust, a London-based charitable foundation. 

About Kew Science    
Kew Science is the driving force behind RBG Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth. Over 600 Kew science staff work with partners in more than 100 countries worldwide to halt biodiversity loss, uncover secrets of the natural world, and to conserve and restore the extraordinary diversity of plants and fungi. Kew’s Science Strategy 2021–2025 lays out five scientific priorities to aid these goals: research into the protection of biodiversity through Ecosystem Stewardship, understanding the variety and evolution of traits in plants and fungi through Trait Diversity and Function; digitising and sharing tools to analyse Kew’s scientific collections through Digital Revolution; using new technologies to speed up the naming and characterisation of plants and fungi through Accelerated Taxonomy; and cultivating new scientific and commercial partnerships in the UK and globally through Enhanced Partnerships. One of Kew’s greatest international collaborations is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which has to date stored more than 2.4 billion seeds of over 40,000 wild species of plants across the globe. In 2023, Kew scientists estimated in the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report that 3 in 4 undescribed plants globally are already likely threatened with extinction.