A gushing Hannah Waddingham has described Prince William as a “glorious gentleman” and the “beating heart” of the Earthshot Prize.
Describing their meeting last year at the Earthshot Prize Awards in Singapore as “absolutely exciting”, Ted Lasso actress Hannah, 50, shared a snippet of her conversation with the heir to the throne.
In an interview with Parade MagazineThe actress revealed that she and her co-presenter Sterling K. Brown approached the Prince of Wales, 42, at the awards and told him he was “head and shoulders above the rest.”
Explaining her reasoning, Hannah said: ‘He has created the Earthshot organization and is not a model of it.
“It was very obvious from being there that he is the beating heart and that he really cares.”
She added: “That man is passionate about the environment and I was very proud to be there as a kind of figurehead for his organization.”
Her interview comes less than a week after she played darts with Prince William to promote her new environmental documentary, The Earthshot Report, broadcast on BBC1 on Saturday night.
The nine-minute sketch was filmed at Alexandra Palace in north London and, according to body language expert Judi James, William is as in awe of Hannah as she is of him.
Hannah Waddingham (left) described her meeting Prince William last year at the Earthshot Awards in Singapore as “absolutely exciting”.
The actress revealed that she and her co-presenter Sterling K. Brown (right) approached the Prince of Wales, 42, at the awards and told him he was “head and shoulders above the rest.”
She added: “That man is passionate about the environment and I was very proud to be there as a kind of figurehead for his organization.”
Speaking to FEMAIL, Judi told how William displayed “sweet gestures”, indicating a genuine friendship between the couple.
Judi said: “It’s quite sweet to see William completely dominated in his performance here by the assertive, statuesque and funny Hannah Waddingham, who reduces him to giggly fan status.
‘William’s famously competitive traits shine early on as he holds the darts like a pro, waving them around as he talks to Hannah in a confident gesture that implies ‘Just look at this!’
“He throws the dart as she speaks, and his tight-lipped expression suggests intent and concentration on hitting the target.
“There’s a little moment where there’s a hint in William’s body language that suggests he might actually report it and pretend the dart hit the target in the video.
“But when Hannah joins in, he has no choice but to let out a gasp of embarrassment when he is revealed to be lying on the floor.”
Body language expert Judi James said Prince William was like a “playful child” when playing darts with Hannah Waddingham (pictured).
During the friendly match, Prince William revealed that he talks to his children all the time about the environment and says getting them out to play in nature is a priority.
Chatting to William, Hannah asked him about his ‘three little people’ and he revealed the importance of Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, getting out into nature.
William said: ‘I talk to my children all the time about this and it is important that they see, touch, feel and enter nature.
“It’s very difficult for people to understand what the point is of protecting it if you never use it and it’s really important that we get people out into nature because then they will value it.”
“We can’t take what we have for granted, we have to protect it and care for it, we have to think about it in a way that is sustainable and beneficial for all of us.”
Dressed in plastic-free trainers from British brand HEVEA and a casual blue jumper, the Prince looked relaxed as he threw darts with Waddingham, 50, and drank a pint of cider in the bar.
In fact, the game seemed to bring back memories of his time as a student at the University of St Andrews, where he previously admitted to being a darts regular.
“Don’t let us start a drinking game, we’ll be here all day doing that too,” William joked.
In the video, Waddingham also took time to question the Prince about his sustainability award.
‘What is your obsession with algae?’ he asked, prompting William to talk about award winner Notpla, which makes food packaging from plants and algae.
The pundit claimed the father-of-three showed his “famous and competitive” side during the match at Alexandra Palace.
James said William showed signs of “genuine pleasure,” including “playful giggles and giggles that seemed schoolboyish.”
The Prince also explained that the prize was about “trying to stay positive about (climate change) rather than negative.”
“That’s where (the idea of) the awards ceremony came from, to celebrate talent and solutions, rather than telling people, ‘Don’t do this or don’t do that.'”
The father of three added: “You have to be very careful because a lot of that has happened.”
During the nine-minute sketch, which was filmed at Alexandra Palace, the royal completely missed the dart board.
‘Cut!’ joked the Prince, as Waddingham told the cameras: ‘Can we see this in close-up?’
Affectionately known as Ally Pally, the north London venue hosted the first Earthshot Award ceremony in 2021, with Boston hosting the following year; Waddingham’s co-host Singapore in 2023 and last month it was Cape Town’s turn.
William founded the prize to recognize and scale up ideas to help ‘repair’ the planet, with the five winning finalists each receiving £1 million to further develop their ideas.
The awards are presented in five categories, or Earthshots – Protect and restore nature; clean our air, revive our oceans; build a world without waste; and fix our climate.
The nine-minute sketch was filmed last week at Alexandra Palace in north London to promote Prince William’s new environmental documentary, The Earthshot Report.
During the darts match, William told the actress his goals for the award: “It took me a long time, I wasn’t sure how to create and galvanize the action, the element of trying to stay positive about everything instead of negative.” “It was really important.” .
“That’s where the awards ceremony came from, which was to celebrate talent and solutions, instead of telling people ‘don’t do this and don’t do that’, you have to be very careful.”
“I don’t want to preach, I want to find solutions because that is always healthier for everyone.”
This comes after the Prince said he hopes his children are “proud” of their Earthshot Award ahead of the glitzy environmental awards ceremony in Cape Town last month.
The royals said they hoped Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and his wife, the Princess of Wales, would be watching at home.
William spoke to the BBC and Sky News as he prepared to present his fourth annual Earthshot Awards, designed to highlight and amplify the planet’s best solutions to the current environmental crisis.
He also said Kate was “doing very well, paying tribute to how “amazing” she had been during her difficult year of cancer treatment.”
‘She is very well, thank you. And…hopefully, she’ll be watching tonight. So encourage me. She has been amazing this whole year. “I know she will be very interested in making this night a success,” he said.
Pictured: Hannah Waddingham walking with the Prince of Wales as he arrives at the 2023 Earthshot Award ceremony, at the Mediacorp Theatre, Singapore.
William said he and his family, like many, have conversations about trying to “do what they can” at home.
The prince said: ‘Yes, well, you know, every family tries to do what they can to help the environment.
“We go over all the basics of recycling and make sure we minimize water use and turn off the lights when we leave the house and things like that.”
He added: ‘I think all families have these conversations. Just try to do what you can. ‘
‘The Earthshot Prize has to be a little more global than that. “We are trying to achieve large-scale ambitions and business to address some of the solutions.”