CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Starting Monday, Prince William of Britain is set to engage with young environmental advocates and local fishermen during his upcoming visit to South Africa. The highlight of this trip will be the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, where $1.2 million in grants will be distributed to five organizations that present innovative environmental solutions.
The 42-year-old heir to the British throne will spend four days in Cape Town, which will also include participation in a global wildlife summit and a visit to a sea rescue institute. His efforts during this trip will not only focus on the awards ceremony scheduled for Wednesday night but will also shine a light on other significant concerns, particularly the efforts of conservation rangers.
Prince William, known as the Prince of Wales, last visited the African continent in 2018. His bond with the region runs deep; he traveled to Africa as a youth after the tragic passing of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car accident in 1997. Notably, he proposed to his wife, Kate, in a Kenyan wildlife conservancy in 2010 and conceived the idea for the Earthshot awards while visiting Namibia in 2018. “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,” he expressed in a statement preceding his journey.
Kate, Princess of Wales, and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, will not accompany William on this trip. Kate, who is 42, has recently resumed public duties following treatment for an undisclosed cancer condition.
This visit comes shortly after Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, toured South Africa and Lesotho last month for a charity focused on youth that he established in collaboration with a member of Lesotho’s royal family.
The Earthshot Prize was initiated by William through his Royal Foundation in 2020, aiming to foster fresh ideas to address environmental challenges. The awards program launched in 2021 and has previously honored projects in the UK, the US, and Singapore. This year, William hopes to motivate young climate activists across Africa, a continent with around 1.5 billion inhabitants that contributes the least to global warming yet faces significant risks from climate change.
Currently, southern Africa is grappling with its most severe drought and hunger crisis in decades, affecting approximately 27 million individuals as reported by the United Nations.
The Earthshot Prize categories include initiatives that protect and restore nature, promote clean air, revitalize oceans, encourage a waste-free world, and address climate repair. This year’s nominees feature a Kenyan company that creates solar-powered home systems, an Ecuadoran group that unites Indigenous communities for forest protection, and a conservation effort in Kazakhstan focused on saving the critically endangered Saiga antelope from extinction.
The awards ceremony is set to take place in a specially constructed, reusable dome located near a sports stadium in Cape Town. This impressive structure, stretching 470 feet long, has previously hosted various events in South Africa and will be repurposed following the Earthshot awards.
While the primary focus of William’s visit centers around climate change and environmental protection, he will take a brief detour to visit a high school in an underprivileged area of Cape Town, where he is anticipated to join students during a rugby practice session. Rugby enjoys immense popularity in South Africa, with the national team, the Springboks, holding the title of world champions. A spokesperson from Kensington Palace hinted, “I can promise that you will see the Prince of Wales playing some rugby” during the school visit.