William’s visit to South Africa will highlight Earthshot Prize

The Prince of Wales will have a high-level meeting with South Africa’s president during a week of events in Cape Town highlighting the royal’s Earthshot Prize.

William’s audience with Cyril Ramaphosa was described as a “follow-up” to the state visit made to the UK by Mr Ramaphosa in 2022.

The two men will sit down for talks and be joined by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in the country for a meeting with his South African counterpart Ronald Lamola.

The future king begins a four-day visit to Cape Town on Monday, taking part in a series of events shining a light on young African climate activists, and the fight against the illegal wildlife trade, with the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony the highlight on Wednesday.

Antony Phillipson, Britain’s high commissioner to South Africa, said ahead of the royal visit: “I would just highlight that we are actually delighted to have the Prince of Wales here this week for Earthshot week, and we will be taking the opportunity of doing some bilateral events with him, and for him.”

He added: “We very much see this as a follow-up to the state visit … which we continue to see here as a very historic moment between the UK and South Africa.”

The high commissioner categorised the royal family’s diplomatic role as the “highest level you can engage” and the policy underpinning a given event would be conducted through follow-up engagements by government ministers.

Dubbed the prince’s “Super Bowl” moment, the prize-giving ceremony on Wednesday will recognise environmental solutions to “repair” the planet and will be broadcast to 50 African countries with a potential African audience of millions, and screened online.

Cape Town’s Table Mountain and other landmarks will be lit up green during the four-day Earthshot Week hosted by the city and attended by William, and 1,000 community stalwarts have been invited to the ceremony in recognition of their efforts.

The Earthshot Prize’s green carpet has been a fixture since William first staged the awards ceremony three years ago in London, followed by Boston and Singapore last year.

Guests have been asked to “re-wear” their wardrobe or spotlight African designers to highlight the importance of local talent and sustainable fashion and arrivals on the famous walkway will be livestreamed on the Earthshot Prize’s YouTube channel, with hosts Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Moozlie.

The awards event will be staged in a reusable dome that has been used for a number of events, with the production ceremony creating around 650 jobs locally. It will be opened by composer and singer Lebo M, performing Circle Of Life from The Lion King in a pre-recorded performance from the top of Table Mountain.