Cate Blanchett has been working on a secret project with the Royal Family, which was revealed today (Monday 20 October), and it’s all to do with a passion she shares with The King. Cate and The King are both advocates for conservation and joined forces for a surprise podcast, Unearthed: The Need For Seeds, alongside senior research leader Dr Elinor Breman.

The podcast’s release marks 25 years of the Millennium Seed Bank, which was created by Kew and is ‘the world’s largest underground seed bank and conservation resource for diverse wild plant species,’ explains the Royal Family in a post. ‘Created in 2000, it is now home to over 2.5 billion seeds ensuring they are safeguarded against extinction.’

The King is a patron of Kew and officially opened the seed bank in 2000. ‘For more than five decades, [he] has used his unique position to champion action for a sustainable future,’ the Royal Family’s most recent post adds.

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‘There’s an urgency to the work that the seed bank does. I was shocked to learn that 97% of the wildflower meadows have been decimated,’ said Cate during the podcast.

‘I knew about the real damage that has been done to all our flower-rich meadows since the war, really,’ said The King. ‘I think it’s wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we’ve got to speed up the process.’

‘There are 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,’ agreed Cate.

Unearthed: The Need For Seeds is available to stream wherever you get your podcasts