Prince Charles is probably as well known for his support for Green initiatives as for his almost loony detachment from reality so news that he runs his cherished Aston Martin DB6 on plonk, cheap wine, raised few eyebrows. After all this is a man who spends more time talking to trees than to people.

The story turned out to be true though, Charles only gets to drive the 38 year old Gas Guzzler a few hundred miles a year now so he took the decision to have it converted to run on ethanol distilled from wine. You can’t fault the lad for environment friendliness, such fuel is virtually carbon free.

Knowing Charlie’s relationship with reality though, you can bet his lackeys are not distilling Aldi’s own brand Cabernet Sauvignon for fuel. Filling up the Aston with Chateau Pretrus at £3,600 a bottle is hardly an economical proposition or would not be if he had to pay or the stuff himself, but it is certainly less damaging to the planet than the old Premium Unleaded.