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Princess Anne has backed GM crops - despite Prince Charles' opposition

Princess Anne has thrown her weight behind GM crops (Picture: REX Features)
Princess Anne has thrown her weight behind GM crops (Picture: REX Features)

Princess Anne has thrown her support behind genetically modified crops – despite Prince Charles previously claiming that they could cause ‘the biggest disaster environmentally of all time’.

The princess, who has farmed on her Gloucestershire estate since the 1970s, made the comments in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme.

She said: ‘GM is one of those things that divides people but surely if we are going to be better at producing food of the right value, then we have to accept that genetic technology is going to be part of that.’

GM crops have attracted a huge backlash (Picture: REX Features)
GM crops have attracted a huge backlash (Picture: REX Features)

Dismissing the possibility of risk, she added: ‘I do think that in the future gene technology has got real benefits to offer, which will maybe have an occasional downside, but I suspect not very many.’

When asked whether she would grow GM crops on her own land, she replied: ‘Yes, unarguably.’

Her comments put her on a direct collision course with her brother, Prince Charles, who has vehemently opposed GM crops on several occasions.

Prince Charles has previously voiced his opposition to GM crops (Picture: AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)
Prince Charles has previously voiced his opposition to GM crops (Picture: AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

Speaking in 2008, he said: ‘one form of clever genetic engineering after another then … will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time.’

In 2014, Princess Anne also claimed that GM crops had an integral role to play in the ‘serious business of feeding people.’

Outside of Europe, GM crops are grown widely – and covered 180m hectares across Brazil, Argentina and the US in 2015.

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In 2016, the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine also concluded that GM food was safe for humans and the environment, but were not delivering the huge increase in yields as previously predicted.