The donation comes against the backdrop of Britain's most severe harvest in over four decades

An artisan hat maker has been gifted a complete wheat field at the King's Norfolk estate after sharing her difficulties in obtaining heritage straw with the monarch.

Emily Hurst, who designs and creates luxury women's straw hats, had explained to the King that supplies of Maris Widgeon, a traditional British wheat variety prized by milliners, had become increasingly unreliable due to poor harvests and shifting weather patterns.

His response was to hand over an entire field of the crop at Sandringham, the private countryside residence of the King and Queen.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Ms Hurst said: "It's quite hard to imagine if I'm honest, it's still quite surreal, it's still sinking in."

The donation comes against the backdrop of Britain's most severe harvest in over four decades.

Successive heatwaves, four so far, with a fifth expected next week, have left half of England and all of Wales grappling with drought.

According to analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, this summer's extreme heat and aridity could reduce the grain harvest by 2.5 million tons, inflicting losses of up to £390m on the farming sector.

The think tank's forecasts put total cereal and oilseed output at 19.5 million tons, the lowest yield since detailed records began in 1984.

Farmers across the country are contending with what amounts to an unprecedented growing season.

Ms Hurst's connection to the King predates this generous gesture.

She was announced last year as the inaugural recipient of a £10,000 bursary from Ascot Racecourse, linked to a Chanel and King's Foundation fellowship.

The 35-week programme, hosted at the King's Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, saw her train with a variety of materials including felt, sinamay and straw.

During the course, she gained practical experience operating historic Guinea Straw Machines, equipment that has underpinned the straw hat trade since the late nineteenth century.

Upon receiving the bursary, she said: "I'm incredibly grateful to receive this bursary from Ascot, which will make a vital difference as I begin my professional journey."

Ms Hurst has spoken passionately about straw as a medium, describing it as "an extraordinary and often overlooked material with deep cultural significance and an exciting future in modern fashion."

She added: "I'm passionate about helping this heritage craft not only survive, but thrive again."

The Sandringham field could prove transformative for her fledgling career. As she told BBC Radio 4: "We've got a whole field's worth here, I could potentially create hundreds of hats from this."

She also credited her time on the Chanel and King's Foundation Millinery Fellowship for shaping her craft, saying: "It's a huge honour to have my work recognised in this way and I owe so much to my time on the fellowship."