King Charles orders his staff to turn down thermostats in a drive to make Buckingham Palace greener

King Charles has ordered his staff to reduce thermostats in a drive to make Buckingham Palace greener.

Guests, staff and the Royal Family were living with temperatures set at 19C (66F) during the winter across royal residences.

And staff were ‘educated’ to turn the temperature down to 16C when the rooms were empty.

The monarch has also been switching off the radiators at weekends completely as well as the remaining historic gas lamps – which are still in the process of electrification – ‘when it is safe to do so’.

The King has now asked for the heating to be turned off completely in the Buckingham Palace swimming pool, so it currently stands unused. The monarch’s targeted initiatives across all the occupied royal palaces, including Windsor Castle, appear to be paying dividends already.

Staff were ‘educated’ to turn the temperature down to 16C when the rooms were empty

They have resulted in a 19 per cent decrease in natural gas and heating emissions in just a year.

A senior Palace official said the household had a ‘core objective’ of improving environmental sustainability and was writing it into every decision it makes.

They said: ‘His Majesty’s long-standing leadership in this space has re-enforced the strategic importance of this issue to the royal household.

‘Our ambition is to be a leading best practice organisation within the historic environment.’

A senior royal official added: ‘In the short term, it’s all about reducing our emissions where we can, adjusting room temperatures, reducing heating at weekends, turning off the gas lamps where it is safe to do so.’

As Prince of Wales, Charles was renowned for introducing energy-saving measures at Clarence House.

This included installing energy monitors, getting his staff to use bikes and, like his late mother, going round turning off the lights.

He previously recycled his Clarence House bath water and runs his Aston Martin classic car on sustainable fuel made from cheese and wine.

As Prince of Wales, Charles was renowned for introducing energy-saving measures at Clarence House

Now he is King, the royal household is very rapidly progressing towards becoming net zero in terms of its emissions.

Staff are looking at installing heat pumps at Windsor Castle and completely electrifying the entire royal fleet of cars.

Lights are being turned off at the weekends, with staff joking they will be sent to the Tower of London should they disobey.

Aircraft are encouraged to use sustainable aviation fuel wherever possible while a larger proportion of renewable electricity is now being purchased.

There has also been a 43 per cent decrease in business travel emission as a result of fewer requests from the Government for tours involving long-haul flights, though it appears unclear whether that will continue in the future.

The annual review also reveals an 11 per cent decrease in waste production, which amounted to 1,349 tonnes this year.