The Prince of Wales said he warned about the dangers of plastic 40 years ago but was dismissed as ‘out of touch’ and ‘anti-science’

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the future monarch said he had felt uncomfortable putting his head ‘above the parapet’ in the 1970s, and said it ‘seemed to take forever’ for people to wake up to the danger of failing to protect the environment.

Ahead of his 70th birthday on November 14th, Prince Charles said he felt it was his duty to help find solutions to the problems facing humanity, including the crisis of plastic in the oceans and climate change.

“I don’t really see any value in saying, ‘I told you so’,” he said. “As a teenager I remember feeling deeply about this appallingly excessive demolition job being done on every aspect of life.

“In putting my head above the parapet on all these issues, and trying to remind people of their long-term, timeless relevance to our human experience - never mind trying to do something about them - I found myself in conflict with the conventional outlook which, as I discovered, is not exactly the most pleasant situation to find yourself.

“One of my duties has been to find solutions to vast challenges we face over accelerating climate change.