CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Britain’s Prince William will speak with young environmentalists and local fishermen during a visit to South Africa starting Monday that will see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organizations for innovative environmental ideas. The 42-year-old heir to the throne will also attend a global wildlife summit and spend time at a sea rescue institute during his four days in Cape Town, with the centerpiece of his trip the Earthshot awards ceremony on Wednesday night.
He’ll use the visit to highlight other issues close to his heart, like the work of rangers on the frontline of conservation efforts, officials said. William, the Prince of Wales, last visited Africa in 2018, but he has a strong connection to the continent. William traveled to Africa as a boy after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997.
He and his wife, Kate, got engaged at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya in 2010. And he said he came up with the idea for the Earthshot awards while in 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,” William said in a statement ahead of his visit.
, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not traveling to South Africa. Kate, 42, only recently after completing treatment for an undisclosed t.
