Prince of Wales tells villagers 'holistic' approach is needed to tackle flooding — SkimNews
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- Prince William visited Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, where residents have endured four major floods in six years, and told villagers extreme weather is no longer a 'one in 50-year' event but 'happening every year now.'
- Storm Claudia brought a month's worth of rain in 24 hours last winter, causing the River Monnow to burst its banks and water to nearly top gravestones in the village cemetery, residents Rod and Helen Wyatt told the prince.
- William joined volunteers at Great Tre-Rhew Farm with environmental charity Stump Up for Trees, which collected 35,000 seeds last year and aims to increase that to 60,000 this year to plant native trees across south Wales and Bannau Brycheiniog.
- William harvested seeds from a field maple and planted a sessile oak — Wales's national tree — climbing over a barbed wire fence and joking he didn't want to 'rip his trousers.'
- Harry Davies, 25, will lead the Duchy of Cornwall's first regenerative farming project on a 25-year lease at a 900-acre farm, with the goal of holding water in soil to reduce flooding and buffer drought.
- Duchy of Cornwall representatives joined the visit alongside charity director Jenny Knight to share learning on nature recovery, climate-resilient forestry, and begin a long-term partnership.
Why it matters: The prince's visit signals the Duchy of Cornwall — a 900-acre-estate landowner — formally pivoting toward regenerative farming and tree-planting partnerships as structural flood defenses, rather than relying solely on reactive emergency measures. By reframing flooding as an annual rather than exceptional event, William is aligning royal estate policy with the on-the-ground reality residents have reported for six years.
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