Princess Royal says she would grow GM crops on her farm

Anne’s stance sees her oppose Prince Charles on controversial issue

The Princess Royal has spoken out in favour of genetically modified (GM) crops, putting her at odds with the Prince of Wales.

Anne conceded the impact of GM crops might not be seen for a long time, but said to rule out the scientific technique “just in case” was not practical.

Her views appear contrary to Charles, a passionate organic farmer who in past years has spoken out against GM and is royal patron of the Soil Association, which has campaigned against GM crops and ingredients in human and animal food.

He once warned that the development of GM crops – not grown commercially in the UK – risked creating “the biggest disaster environmentally of all time”.

Anne’s comments were made in an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today show, which has talked to a number of leading figures for a series of programmes this week exploring the environmental and farming opportunities that will come with Brexit.

Anne, who farms in Gloucestershire, told the programme: “GM is one of those things that divides people, but surely if we’re going to be better at producing food of the right value then we have to accept that genetic technology – whether you call it modification or anything else – is going to be part of that.”

The princess added: “Most of us will argue that we’ve been genetically modifying food since man started to be agrarian, but everybody will say, ‘well, it doesn’t happen so quickly’.

“So being able to understand what those changes mean, if you change one aspect of a plant, then how does it affect the rest of the environment around it, does it have a long-term impact?

“There’s probably a very long-term impact and we may not see that for quite a long time. And to say, ‘no, we mustn’t go there just in case’, is probably not a practical argument.”

Liz O’Neill, director of campaign group GM Freeze, said: “The harm done by GM crops is already all too real. It shows that you can’t solve systemic problems one gene at a time.”

Picture: PA. Anne said, in a post-Brexit UK where growing GM crops was permitted, she would cultivate them on her land.