But then, Prince Charles has always felt at ease in rural surroundings.

Anybody who has captured a glimpse of His Royal Highness (HRH) will know that from an early age he has had a penchant for the land and in particular for sheep and the clothes that their wool goes into.

After all, this is a man who not only has his own sheep property - Highbury Estate in Gloucestershire, but whose appearance – good or bad - can send the gossipers of the world into frenzy.

Which is why one of the actual motivations for Prince Charles being in that paddock on that severely bitter English winters’ day has been heralded a potential turning point for the wool industry by the powers that be in the Australian wool industry.

Because you see, on that day he kick started a wool awareness campaign.

A campaign that he, alone, inspired and has already gained the assistance of the editor of the influential Conde Nast group, Nicholas Coleridge, whose charge includes global fashion magazines, Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Dubbed The Prince’s Wool Campaign, the campaign will hit the consumer in the form of a wool week in the United Kingdom in September this year.

“Wool is a fibre even the most brilliant boffin in the most high-tech laboratory could never create,” HRH said as he explained the natural benefits of the fibre at the launch and heartfelt solidarity with woolgrowers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

AWI director and owner of Europe’s largest wool processing company, G. Modiano, Laurence Modiano, said it was exclusively HRH’s idea.

“We never asked him for that,” he said.

“Believe it or not, they (the royal family) are all aware of wool and meat prices.”

Mr Modiano said the inclusion of Mr Coleridge was also a major win for the wool industry.

“It’s going to be a pretty big thing because Coleridge is a very important man in the European press,” Mr Modiano said in Sydney last week.

In a Princes Wool Campaign statement, Mr Coleridge said top designers such as Burberry, Jasper Conran and Paul Smith were already using wool and the key was to boost its use in the middle and value retail markets.

The campaign will be run with the assistance of Australian Wool innovation, International Wool textile Organisation and British Wool Marketing Board.