Prince William returns to ‘special place’ Africa for Earthshot Prize awards

The Prince of Wales has spoken of his deep personal connections with Africa – ahead of his environmental Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Cape Town in South Africa next week.

“Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife,” said Prince William ahead of his visit.

Prince William’s mother, Diana, had many associations with the continent, including supporting a mine-clearing charity, and his return there as a young man seemed to have left an emotional impact.

It was in Kenya that the prince proposed to Catherine during a romantic trip in 2010.

At the time he said he’d been carrying the engagement ring – which previously belonged to his mother – around in his rucksack for several weeks, building up to the proposal.

Prince William says he is taking his environmental prize back to its African roots – as a visit to Namibia had been the “founding inspiration” and the “birthplace” of the awards.

“It was in Namibia in 2018 that I realised the power of how innovative, positive solutions to environmental problems could drive transformative change for humans and nature,” says Prince William.

The Earthshot Prize, first awarded in 2021, supports sustainable, eco-friendly projects from around the world, with five winners each receiving £1m.

There is a focus on ideas from Africa for this year’s event, with more than 400 African-led projects nominated and another 350 linked to the continent.

Although Africa generates the fewest emissions for global warming, many of its countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change.

The emphasis of the awards is on tangible results, scaling up good ideas to make a bigger impact. For instance, one of last year’s finalists was a project to reduce air pollution from car tyres and that’s now being developed in a partnership with Uber in the UK and US.

“By the end of the week, I want the Earthshot Prize to have provided a platform to all those innovators bringing about change for their communities, encouraged potential investors to speed African solutions to scale and inspired young people across Africa who are engaged in climate issues,” says Prince William.

In keeping with the green theme, guests will arrive on a green carpet rather than red and South African landmarks will be illuminated in green light.

The prince will attend the awards ceremony on 6 November, which will feature a performance of a song from the Lion King on top of Table Mountain, with the event available on BBC iPlayer.