A King and a Queen (rocker!) Charles catches up with Sir Brian May as he hosts space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace
- King Charles, 74, launched the initiative when he was still the Prince of Wales
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King Charles appeared delighted to be reunited with Brian May as he hosted a space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace this afternoon.
The monarch, 74, welcomed high profile guests – including the Queen rocker and astronaut Major Tim Peake to the official launch of the Astra Carta initiative.
The new campaign will encourage the global private sector to align their space exploration with sustainability goals.
The King first outlined the framework for Astra Carta at the Space Sustainability Summit in June 2022 – when he was still the Prince of Wales.
At the official launch this afternoon, the King appeared delighted to unveil a new plaque featuring the campaign’s logo – which was designed by Sir Jony Ive.
King Charles, 74, pictured shaking hands with Sir Brian May during a Space Sustainability Event at Buckingham Palace this afternoon
The former Apple designer also created King Charles’ official coronation emblem earlier this year.
Outlining Astra Carta’s ambitions, the tagline reads: ‘To care for the infinite wonders of the universe.’
After this, King Charles was photographed mingling with guests – and the monarch stopped to catch up with musician Brian May, 75.
Having shot to fame as Queen’s lead guitar player, Brian May also went on to achieve his doctorate in astrophysics – having paused his studies when the band took off in the 1970s.
Brian did manage to co-author two scientific research papers: MgI Emission in the Night-Sky Spectrum and An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles (Part I), which were based on Brian’s observations in Tenerife.
He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in November 2002 by the University of Hertfordshire, but this title was not enough for him, as he wanted to feel that he deserves the title for this scientific work and not due to his fame as an artist.
Earlier this year, Sir Brian was knighted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and charity.
Following the service, Brian said: ‘I am very happy, smiling from ear-to-ear, particularly because it was the King, which means a lot.’
The King (pictured) first outlined the framework for Astra Carta at the Space Sustainability Summit in June 2022 – when he was still the Prince of Wales
King Charles pictured speaking with British Astronaut Major Tim Peake – who announced his retirement earlier this year at the age of 51
King Charles pictured unveiling the official Astra Carta plaque in Buckingham Palace this afternoon
Sir Brian May (pictured) was knighted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and charity in March
What’s more, the King also took the time to speak with Major Tim Peake – who was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009 and spent six months on the International Space Station from December 2015.
This morning, the astronaut shared a message of support for the Astra Carta initiative with his 1.5m Twitter followers.
It read: ‘Space benefits us all. From medicine, materials, clean energy & water, communications, climate & much more. But we have to use space responsibly.
‘It’s an honour to support HM King Charles III’s ‘Astra Carta’ initiative – a framework for sustainable space being embraced at today’s Global Leaders on Space Sustainability Symposium.’
Major Tim, 51, was the first British man to ever walk in space and announced his retirement in January 2023.
Pictured: Sir Brian May and Major Tim Peake seen chatting at a space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace
The Astra Carta will encourage the global private sector to align their space exploration with sustainability goals
King Charles previously met Major Tim in July 2016 – not long after the astronaut returned from his six months in space.
The former test pilot told Charles his Soyuz capsule experienced extreme temperatures on re-entry and landed in Kazakhstan with the force of a small car crash.
The royal, 74, asked: ‘Are you sure you’re in one piece?’ when they met at the Bristol centre of the Prince’s Trust , only for the father-of-two to reply that he was ‘feeling great’.
King Charles has spent decades promoting sustainable, eco-conscious organisations – and has now set his sights on the space realm.
In 2020, the King admitted that people thought he was ‘dotty’ when he began speaking about the importance of protecting the environment to the Countryside Steering Committee for Wales.
At the age of 21, Charles delivered his first impassioned speech about his personal concern over oil pollution and single-use plastic.
He also told how, as a teenager in the 1960s, he was concerned about the destruction of trees, wetlands and habitats as well as ‘the white heat of progress and technology to the exclusion of nature and our surroundings’.
In his 1970 address, Charles highlighted a problem that has become an illustration of humanity’s threat to nature.
Then he had said: ‘When you think that each person produces roughly 2lb of rubbish per day and there are 55 million of us on this island using non-returnable bottles and indestructible plastic containers, it is not difficult to imagine the mountains of refuse that we shall have to deal with somehow.’
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