Steve Backshall has retraced the King’s 1975 trip to the Canadian Arctic exactly 50 years later. The footage will form a feature-length ITV documentary that looks at the accelerating impact of climate change on the Arctic and the work being done to secure a healthy future for the planet.

The King’s 1975 journey included dog sledding, a dive beneath the ice, and lessons about the Inuit people’s culture and dependence on the surrounding environment. The programme is due to be shown as part of ITV’s Christmas schedule and will include a discussion with the King about the effects of climate change.

Backshall said: “To see the Arctic through the King’s eyes – then and now – was both inspiring and sobering. Standing where the King once stood, diving beneath the same Arctic ice he explored half a century ago, was humbling beyond words. His Majesty was raising the alarm for the natural world long before most of us realised how urgent that call would become. His commitment to protecting our planet runs through every fibre of this story.” Director Marshall Corwin added: “It has been a real privilege – and eye-opener – seeing His Majesty the King as never before: his extreme spirit of adventure, his genuine passion for the planet, and his mischievous sense of humour.”