Prince William has recalled his personal connections with Africa ahead of his four-day visit to Cape Town for the Earthshot award ceremony.
The Prince of Wales, 42, said the continent holds a “special place in my heart” as it was a place where he “found solace 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, 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 deliver what Kensington Palace has described as a historic speech on nature, the environment and his support for gamekeepers, at the start of a two-day summit of United for Wildlife, his umbrella organization fighting against illegal animal trafficking.
Prince William has recalled his personal connections with Africa ahead of his four-day visit to Cape Town for the Earthshot award ceremony next week.
Prince William gave a sweet nod to his wife Kate in a lengthy social media post.
Prior to this, the prince said: “Africa has always had a special place in my heart, as a place where I found solace as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife and, more recently, as the founding inspiration behind the Earthshot Prize.
‘It was in Namibia in 2018 where I realized the power of how innovative and positive solutions to environmental problems could drive transformative change for humans and nature.
‘I am proud that since its inception, the Earthshot Prize has traveled to Europe, North America and Asia, highlighting and amplifying 45 innovative 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 take place on Wednesday in a reusable dome that has been used for several events, and an estimated 600 jobs will be created or construction work on the structure.
Prince William is expected to visit Cape Town without his wife Kate Middleton, who is prioritizing her recovery after completing chemotherapy this year.
Prince William said: ‘This week we will travel to South Africa to highlight our next cohort of 15 finalists and have the opportunity to join partners from across Africa to celebrate the inspiring approach to environmental innovation taking place across the continent.
‘By the end of the week, I want the Earthshot Prize to have given a platform to all those innovators creating change for their communities, encouraged potential investors to accelerate African solutions at scale and inspired young people across Africa to They are involved in climate issues. .
“I firmly believe that if we come together with collective ambition and urgency, we can reshape the future of our planet.”
The Prince of Wales, 42, said the continent holds a “special place in my heart” as somewhere he “found solace 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
The ceremony will take place on Wednesday in a reusable dome that has been used for several events, and an estimated 600 jobs will be created or construction work on the structure.
The finalists, from countries including France, Ghana, Indonesia and Nepal, compete for a £1 million prize awarded to each winner in five categories, with the money going towards developing their ideas.
The five categories, or Earthshots, are: protecting and restoring nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a world without waste; and fix our climate.
The initiative was inspired by former US President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot project, which challenged scientists to place an astronaut on the Moon and return him safely, and in the process helped advance technology.
William pictured at the Earthshot awards ceremony last year.
The prince photographed with Hannah Jones, executive director of the Earthshot Awards.
The prince was pictured with Hannah Waddingham, who attended last year’s ceremony.
Among the finalists in the Building a Waste-Free World category is Keep It Cool, a Kenya-based company that uses solar-powered cooling to help farmers reduce crop waste.
The solution to our climate category includes the American company Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, which converts excess heat produced during the manufacture of steel or cement into electricity.
British startup NatureMetrics, a finalist in nature protection and restoration, is using environmental DNA technology to identify species populations and report on environmental and conservation impacts.
Prince William and Kate at the 2022 Earthshot Prize award ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 2 of that year.