King Charles has donated an entire field of wheat from the Sandringham estate to a milliner facing a national straw shortage. Emily Hurst, who crafts high-end straw hats for women, struggled to source heritage straw for her creations.
Struggle with heritage straw
Hurst, who trained at Highgrove, told the King she was struggling to obtain Maris Widgeon, a traditional British wheat variety prized by milliners, due to poor harvests and extreme weather. The monarch responded by giving her the crop from Sandringham, a gesture she described as 'surreal'.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Hurst said: “We’ve got a whole field’s worth here, I could potentially create hundreds of hats from this. It’s quite hard to imagine if I’m honest, it’s still quite surreal, it’s still sinking in.”
Background and impact
In 2025, Hurst became the first recipient of a £10,000 bursary from Ascot Racecourse, awarded to a Chanel and King's Foundation fellowship student. She graduated from the 35-week course at Highgrove Gardens, training with historic machines and various materials.
Her hats, including a £475 straw visor, are sold at the Highgrove shop, with proceeds going to the King's Foundation. She has also worked with luxury ateliers.
The donation comes as the UK faces its fifth heatwave, with farmers expecting their worst harvest on record for 2026. Grain harvest estimates suggest a 2.5 million ton reduction, potentially costing farmers nearly £400 million. Wildfires have also broken out, including a blaze in the New Forest, causing decades-long damage to protected heathland.
