Prince William meets Clarkson Farm stars and to appear on Countryfile as Royals focus on farming

The curators of an exhibition celebrating the power and potential of soil have praised the King’s “incredible sense of curiosity” during his visit to a London museum.

Charles met farmers and artists as he toured the Soil: The World at Our Feet exhibition at Somerset House.

He was also joined by families and representatives from The Royal Countryside Fund, a charity aimed at helping farms to be more sustainable, set up by him as the prince of Wales in 2010.

Bridget Elworthy, curator of the exhibition, said: “For a long time he’s been our number one soil hero, so to have him come in to celebrate this exhibition has been so exciting.

She added: “I’m sure he’s engaged in so many things because he has such an incredible sense of curiosity and he’s so polite. But I feel like he was definitely really interested.”

Co-curator Henrietta Courtauld added: “He has such an interest and understands the importance of nature and working with nature and that’s so close to our hearts and values as well.

“There’s an area in the exhibition where you can actually smell the soil and he would smell that himself when he’s out in the garden and how that makes you feel so good.”

Charles also unveiled a plaque in the newly refurbished Salt Stair to mark the visit and the 25th anniversary of Somerset House.

Speaking to farming families, he asked what type of farming they undertook, their ambitions for the future and how they had heard about the Royal Countryside Fund.

Moving around the various displays, the King was particularly interested in Jo Pearl’s Unearthed Mycelium ceramic, asking how she made the piece and what it was made out of. He joked: “So how many went wrong before you got it right?” She assured him only once. ​

Meanwhile, William is to appear on an episode of Clarkson’s Farm, and revealed that Prince George will be among the fans tuning in.

William was joined by stars of the hit series, Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland, on a visit to meet young farmers in Somerset.

A camera crew from the Amazon Prime show followed William on his trip to Folly Farm, nestled in a 250-acre nature reserve in Pensford, Chew Valley, where he was raising awareness of mental health care for farmers.

William told Cooper as they met outside in the spring sunshine: “You’ve got George watching now. I said to him ‘What shall I say if I meet Kaleb?’”

“He said ‘Tell Kaleb to mind his language’.”

Cooper joked about how much he swears when appearing on Clarkson’s Farm, filmed on former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm, in Oxfordshire. Ireland said afterwards, of hearing that Prince George watched the programme.

“It’s great because it’s meant to bring everyone together, isn’t it – on the family sofa.”

Cooper joked: “I did get told off for swearing too much… I tried to stop, but at the same time, it’s awesome.

"That’s what I like about the whole show… I’ve had so many people thank me, going ‘you brought the family together’. It’s a great feeling.”

Cooper greeted William with the quip “great hair”, with the prince laughing and remarking “Is that your clean shirt?” and joking about his shoes: “Are they the cleanest ones you’ve got?”

Meanwhile, BBC’s new Countryfile presenter Vick Hope recorded a special mental health-focused episode for the show featuring the prince.

William congratulated her on her “brilliant” new role with the programme, with radio star Hope saying how it was nice “to spend time in nature”.

The prince’s visit coincided with the announcement of his new position as patron of We Are Farming Minds, a Duchy of Cornwall-supported charity, set up to help farmers experiencing isolation and mental health issues.