LEPORELLO
FOREWORD BY KING CHARLES III
In March 2021, I joined Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor to plant an oak tree in The Great Park to mark the commencement of The Queen’s Green Canopy. Since then, I have been delighted, as Patron, to witness the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the call to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. Across the whole of the United Kingdom, individuals, community groups, charities and businesses chose to mark the Platinum Jubilee by planting trees – a veritable “Treebilee!”
These days there is, thankfully, a much greater awareness of the importance of trees and woodlands for the enormous benefits they bring us and our planet. Their enduring and reassuring presence has, I believe, made them a particularly appropriate way of commemorating the seventy-year reign of our late Queen, whose life touched countless people over many generations and across the world.
As well as encouraging the planting of more trees, The Queen’s Green Canopy has highlighted the part that trees, and woodlands, have played in the history of our country by dedicating seventy ancient trees and seventy ancient woodlands to Her Majesty. These trees and woodlands, many of an astonishing age, have their own enchanting character and history and are inseparable from our country’s culture. Earlier this year I enjoyed visiting the Restormel Oak in Cornwall, and I look forward to seeing many more in the years ahead. It is, of course, my sincere hope that some of the trees planted for the Platinum Jubilee will be the ancient trees and woodlands of the future.
In this book, the incredibly talented artist, Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis, whose work I have admired for so many years, has captured in her own unique way the haunting beauty of a selection of the seventy ancient trees. I have no doubt that this book of her drawings will provide both insight and inspiration and will add to the enduring legacy of The Queen’s Green Canopy.
An Artist's Proof of the Leporello has been acquired by the British Library for the National Collection.