Jul 9, 2009, 11:00 GMT
Britain's Prince Charles claims he is similar to Henry VIII.
The prince - a staunch environmental campaigner - praised his ancestor for his keen interest in architecture and awareness of green issues at the annual Dimbleby Lecture.
He said: "Towards the end of his reign, he also showed an interest in sustainability. Perhaps it is not so well known that Henry instigated the very first piece of green legislation in this country.
"What was instinctively understood by many in King Henry's time was the importance of working with the grain of nature to maintain the balance between keeping the earth's natural capital intact, and sustaining humanity on its renewable income."
In a bid to protect forests in 1543, Henry passed laws that prevented shipbuilders from felling too many immature oak trees.
Giving his address at London's St. James' Palace, Charles also warned that consumerism is threatening the world's future, with rainforests already having shrunk by a third since 1950.
He said: "Our consumerist society comes at an enormous cost to the Earth and we must face up to the facet that the Earth cannot afford to support it.
"Just as our banking sector is struggling with its debts - and paradoxically also facing calls for a return to so-called old-fashioned traditional thinking, so Nature's life-support systems are failing to cope with the debts with have built up there too.
"If we don't face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust too. And no amount of quantitative easing will revive it.
"To avoid such an outcome, which will comprehensively destroy our children's future, we must urgently confront and then make choices which carry monumental implications."
Your Talkback on this Story