Royal Family
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attend the "No Time To Die" World Premiere at Royal Albert Hall on September 28, 2021 in London, England. Karwai Tang/WireImage

KEY POINTS

  • King Charles and Queen Elizabeth planted a copper beech tree in 2021 when she launched her Green Canopy project
  • The King and Prince William teamed up to plant an Acer tree for the Queen, and to conclude the project
  • Some royal fans left comments on the royals' post saying they also planted trees in honor of the late Queen

King Charles III and Prince William joined forces to finish Queen Elizabeth II's last project.

The King and his eldest son planted a tree in honor of the late monarch's life at one of her favorite places — Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The move marked the end of the Queen's Green Canopy project, which saw the planting of millions of saplings across the U.K.

The Queen's Green Canopy was launched as a project for her Platinum Jubilee in October 2021. At the time, King Charles and his mother teamed up to plant a copper beech tree at Balmoral in Scotland. It was later extended as a memorial project to Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September 2022.

On Sunday, the King planted the last sapling, an Acer tree, in the gardens of Sandringham House along with the Prince of Wales as the project came to an end.

"Proudly marking the end of the @queensgreencanopy project by planting this Acer tree in the gardens of Sandringham House – one of over 3 million that have been planted in Queen Elizabeth II's name as part of this initiative," King Charles captioned photos of him planting trees with his son and his mother on Instagram and Twitter. "It is hard to believe that two years have passed since my mother and I planted a tree in Windsor Great Park to mark the commencement of The Queen's Green Canopy."

"As the second planting season draws to a close, and with it this vitally important initiative, I particularly wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone from across the United Kingdom who has helped to plant over three million trees to create an enduring legacy in Queen Elizabeth's name," he continued.

King Charles concluded his message by writing: "This project has shown how simple, practical and positive gestures can make a big difference, and I can think of no more fitting tribute to Her late Majesty's seventy-year reign."

A number of royal fans shared how they supported the project in their own way in the comments section of the royal's post.

"Amazing, I even planted a tree in my own garden for the Queen," one commented.

Another wrote, "I've planted in our garden 20 trees for The Queen's Canopy... My last tree, Wedding Cake, is for our 50th wedding anniversary... I wrote to the Queen once. Received a lovely reply. Tolerance was Her Majesty's advice. Tolerance is her legacy."

"Such a great initiative. It inspired me and my eco club at school to plant 90!" a third user added.

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton supported the project in March 2022 by planting a tree in Wales.

Last December, the Princess of Wales also planted a wild cherry tree in Dean's Yard at Westminster Abbey in London ahead of her 2022 Christmas carol concert.

Aside from King Charles and Prince William's ceremonial planting, a new film narrated by Judi Dench was released telling the story of the planting project, according to People. It reveals how the initiative inspired many people from all walks of life to participate.

A unique mosaic artwork using thousands of images of people with their Platinum Jubilee and memorial trees has been created showing a green canopy depicting the Queen's EIIR cipher.

Charles ascended to the throne when Elizabeth died on September 8
AFP