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You might have noticed the traffic being a little more backed up than usual around the Cape Town Stadium yesterday afternoon and that’s because a British royal was in the hood.
Prince William has been gallivanting around Cape Town since Monday (November 4) as part of a four-day trip to celebrate and honour the winners of his prestigious annual Earthshot Prize Awards.
The Prince and his celeb guests – such as supermodels Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow, award-winning actor and singer Billy Porter, renowned TV personality Bonang Matheba, and his fellow Earthshot Global Ambassador, Robert Irwin – all walked down the longest green carpet ever, measuring up to 36-metres long. William also met up with Nomzamo Mbatha, Earthshot Prize ambassador and host of the special week of events that have taken place in Cape Town.
Per PEOPLE, the British royal said he was “feeling good” as he “can’t quite believe we’re here, fourth year, in Africa,” while on the green carpet.
“But I’m really pleased because I’ve been looking forward to an Africa Earthshot for a long time. I love the continent, and I’m so pleased we’ve managed to get here to Africa.”
“Africa’s been a big part of my life since I’ve been a young boy, since I first came to Africa,” he continued. “I felt really connected to the place spiritually and kind of from an environmental and people point. And every time I come here I get a warm welcome. Every time I come here I can be myself and get away from all the stuff that happens in my normal life. And so it’s a really special place, a home from home for me.”
The Earthshot Prize Awards is now in its fourth year, with previous glittering ceremonies held in London (2021), Boston (2022), and Singapore (2023). Described by his inner circle as Prince William’s “Superbowl moment,” this is the night where five groundbreaking ideas are celebrated, each one a beacon of hope in the battle to fix the planet’s most pressing challenges.
What a night! Thank you to everyone who made the @EarthshotPrize 2024 so special.
Catch up on #EarthshotCapeTown at https://t.co/pD2nW3ypBN pic.twitter.com/6h4d5o0bCJ
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 6, 2024
On the green carpet, Irwin tells PEOPLE, “I’m just loving it,” and adds that “Cape Town has my heart. I love this place so much.”
The two men hiked on Signal Hill before the ceremony, which Irwin said was “awesome”:
“What a spot. I felt really, really honored to have a great chat with Prince William about the future of Earthshot Prize. You can instantly tell when you talk to him he’s got such a focus about making the next generation enthusiastic about making change, which is so important.”
Irwin is an Earthshot Prize ambassador and was involved in last year’s Earthshot Prize Awards in Singapore.
“The Earthshot Prize was always about being a marathon,” he tells PEOPLE. “It is a 10-year initiative and it’s going to take a huge global movement to combat the big issues that we see today. And that’s exactly what Earthshot is. It has become truly global and it seems to snowball. Every year it’s bigger, and there are so many people coming on board from all different walks of life.”
William announced the Earthshot finalists in September, and before the winners were announced, they all met up at Kirstenbosch Gardens:
A pleasure to spend time with all fifteen of this year’s @EarthshotPrize Finalists ahead of tonight’s #EarthshotCapeTown Awards! Your work has the power to change the future of our planet
Watch LIVE on YouTube from 18:00 CAT / 16:00 GMT / 11:00 EST… pic.twitter.com/7tfqpBw9Wa
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 6, 2024
The Prince also met President Ramaphosa on Tuesday:
A pleasure to meet with President @cyrilramaphosa today. Thank you for the warm welcome here in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/6Nh2H8DIC6
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 5, 2024
While also checking out all that our local rangers, conservationists, and volunteers do, working tirelessly to preserve the unique biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom.
Table Mountain National Park
Discussing the vital importance of biodiversity at beautiful Signal Hill, joining rangers and conservationists to learn about the incredible efforts to protect the Cape – a biodiversity hotspot home to rare and endangered species
pic.twitter.com/M7384F83B6
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 5, 2024
Table Mountain National Park
This is when Rob had a fun chat with the Prince:
A wonderful morning for a hike on the stunning Signal Hill, Cape Town, discussing the amazing conservation work happening here! I’m honoured to be part of the @EarthshotPrize family, and can’t wait for the Awards tomorrow night.@KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/tl3XBIN40K
— Robert Irwin (@RobertIrwin) November 5, 2024
As William touched down in the Mother City, he went to throw a rugby ball with some folks in Langa:
Great to also be joined by Springbok legends Joel Stransky, Percy Montgomery and The Beast to see how these programmes use the power of sport to transform the lives of these amazing young people. pic.twitter.com/oMKult6mkB
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 4, 2024
Representing the Kolisi Foundation, Rachel Kolisi was invited to speak at a Youth Climate Leaders Programme where she had a chance to mingle with Prince William. According to the local charity, Rachel participated in a panel discussion that welcomed over 100 youth from around the world with the common goal of driving sustainable change.
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The five winners chosen from the group of 15 finalists received $1.3 million (over R22 million) each to help them build and market their groundbreaking ideas. Congrats to Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate for taking on the huge task of making our planet more liveable.
Congratulations to The @EarthshotPrize 2024 WINNERS!
Protect and Restore Nature: @AltynDala
Clean Our Air: @gayoghana
Revive Our Oceans: @HACforNP
Build a Waste-free World: @keepitcoolapp
Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems pic.twitter.com/6wkBchEK68— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 6, 2024
There is a lot of work to do, but it is so good to see so many people getting their hands dirty already.
Prince William congratulates the five Winners of The Earthshot Prize 2024 and shares his words of optimism. It’s time to repair and regenerate our planet. @KensingtonRoyal #EarthshotCapeTown pic.twitter.com/FvQsJ8XeGh
— The Earthshot Prize (@EarthshotPrize) November 6, 2024