Prince William has reminisced about his personal connections with Africa ahead of his four-day visit to Cape Town for the Earthshot prize ceremony.
The Prince of Wales, 42, said the continent holds a ‘special place in my heart’, as somewhere he ‘found comfort as a teenager’ – and where he proposed to Kate Middleton.
Prince William proposed to the Princess of Wales during a romantic getaway to Kenya in 2010. He had been carrying the engagement ring – which once belonged to Princess Diana – around in his backpack for weeks beforehand.
On Monday, the heir to the throne will begin a four-day visit to South Africa, called Earthshot Week, which will showcase young African environmentalists and include a meeting with the country’s prime minister, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Prince of Wales will also give what Kensington Palace has described as a landmark speech on nature, the environment and his support for wildlife rangers, at the start of a two-day summit for United for Wildlife, his umbrella organisation combating the illegal trafficking of animals.
Ahead of this, the prince said: ‘Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife and most recently as the founding inspiration behind The Earthshot Prize.
‘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.
‘I am proud that since its inception The Earthshot Prize has travelled to Europe, North America and Asia, spotlighting and scaling 45 groundbreaking solutions, all of which are having a tangible impact as we work as a global collective to secure the future of our planet.’
The ceremony will be staged on Wednesday in a reusable dome that has been used for a number of events, with an estimated 650 jobs created or working on building the structure.
For the first time, more than 1,000 members of the public are set to join The Prince and special guests during the Ceremony at the purpose-built Earthshot Prize Dome in Cape Town.
It is expected that Prince William will visit the capital city without his wife Kate Middleton, who is prioritising her recovery after completing chemotherapy this year.
Prince William said: ‘This week we’ll travel to South Africa to spotlight our next cohort of 15 Finalists and have the opportunity to join partners from across Africa to celebrate the inspiring approach to environmental innovation that is taking place across the continent.
‘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.
‘I firmly believe that if we come together with collective ambition and urgency, we can reshape the future of our planet.’
There will be an exclusive performance on Table Mountain to open the fourth annual Awards Ceremony and local landmarks are set to light up green to celebrate the occasion.
The show will open with an exclusive performance by Lebo M. of Circle of Life from The Lion King, pre-recorded at the top of Table Mountain.
It is the first time that such a performance has been recorded at the site.
The finalists, from countries including France, Ghana, Indonesia and Nepal, are vying for a £1 million prize pot awarded to each winner of five categories, with the money earmarked to develop their ideas.
The five categories, or Earthshots are: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.
The initiative was inspired by former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot project which set scientists the challenge of placing an astronaut on the Moon and returning him safely – and in the process helped advance technology.
Among the finalists in the build a waste-free world category is Keep It Cool, a Kenyan based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers.
The fix our climate category features American company Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, which is converting excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity.
UK start-up NatureMetrics, a protect and restore nature finalist, is using environmental DNA technology to identify species populations and report environmental and conservation impacts.
