The Prince of Wales wore a sweet reminder of home yesterday as he began his four-day royal visit to South Africa.
William was seen wearing a homemade friendship bracelet with the word “Dad”, as his children call him, in Cape Town.
Her daughter, Princess Charlotte, nine, is known to be a big fan of arts and crafts, and of singer Taylor Swift, who encourages her fans to exchange homemade bead bracelets with names or words.
The prince’s name was written in black and white with different shades of blue.
It could be seen on his wrist under his £99 eco-friendly vegan shirt and jacket as he met with young environmentalists and told them: “You’re going to change the world.”
Prince William is seen wearing a homemade friendship bracelet while speaking to young people at the Earthshot Prize Youth Climate Leaders Program in Cape Town yesterday.
Prince William’s friendship bracelet bears the word ‘Dad’, as his children call him
During an impromptu speech at the event on Rooftop on Bree, William, 42, told the 120 young people from across Africa and Southeast Asia: “The Earthshot Prize believes in you and the reason we created the award is for moments like this’.
He had been talking to them about his ideas for tackling climate problems, which included a business making bags from old tires.
William added: “All of you in this room are future change makers, you are the leaders, you are the people who will make a difference in the future.”
‘It’s your platform, use it as you need, carry it, play with it, turn it into something different.
‘Because we believe in you and what you are going to do is change the world, I really do.
‘This is the generation that is going to do that. And their solutions and their impact are very important and very necessary right now.
Prince William also wore the bracelet while taking part in a rugby training session with schoolchildren during a visit to Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town yesterday.
William wears the bracelet as he catches a ball at a rugby session in Cape Town yesterday.
This is not noble, this is business and what you are doing is creating solutions and a better life for all of us. Keep it up, keep up the energy.’
Young people participate in the inaugural Earthshot Prize Youth Climate Leaders Program.
William is in Cape Town for his annual Earthshot Prize, devised by the royal and his team after the prince expressed frustration at the level of “pessimism and despair” around the environment and the climate crisis.
He decided to highlight and amplify positive and innovative solutions to the problem: Earthshot, ‘the most ambitious environmental award in history’.
This year’s event is said to “go beyond” anything it has done before.
Five winners will each receive £1 million at an awards ceremony tomorrow to help scale up their ideas to solve environmental problems.
Taylor Swift poses with the Prince of Wales and her children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, before one of her concerts at Wembley Stadium in London in June. The singer encourages her fans to exchange homemade bead bracelets with names or words on them.
Participants range from a company that has created sustainable refrigeration to one that removes harmful CO2 from the oceans.
Africa is a particularly emotional place for William, who found “healing” on the continent following the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales. He also proposed to his wife in Kenya.
But Africa is also the continent that, while contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest global emissions, is more affected by the impact of climate change than any other.
Today William will embark on a busy day of engagements which will include visiting local landmarks to learn more about environmental projects in the region and meeting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
William’s audience with the president has been described as a “follow-up” to Ramaphosa’s state visit to the UK in 2022.
Fans wearing friendship bracelets during a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans last month.
Later, the prince will give a major speech about nature, the environment and his support for rangers at the start of a two-day summit of United for Wildlife, his umbrella organization fighting illegal animal trafficking.
The future king began a four-day visit to Cape Town yesterday and over the next few days he will take part in a series of events that will shine a light on young African climate activists and promote the Earthshot Prize ceremony.
The prince and the president will sit down for talks later and will be joined by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is in the country to meet his South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola.
Antony Phillipson, Britain’s high commissioner to South Africa, said of the royal visit: “I would just like to highlight that we are really delighted to have the Prince of Wales here this week for Earthshot week, and we will take the opportunity to do some bilateral developments. with him and for him.
He added: “We see this as a continuation of the state visit… which we continue to see here as a very historic moment between the UK and South Africa.”
William will also attend Earthshot+, a day of conversations with world-leading experts aimed at improving the impact of the Earthshot Prize, featuring a young environmentalist, an Earthshot trustee and Mr Lammy, among others.