The Prince of Wales played football with children while in Rio
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
For Earthshot saw the Prince of Wales in full showman mode. Whether he was kicking off his socks to play volleyball with an Olympian and a school of disadvantaged children, offering a warm hug to kids after a football match, or wearing Tom Ford the red carpet alongside stars like Kylie Minogue, the future king showed that, while he has admitted that ‘change is on the agenda’ when he takes the throne, he very much understands the optics of public-facing roles in the modern monarchy – much, some might add, like his mother.
Red carpet ready: Prince William wore Tom Ford as he accompanied Kylie Minoque and Shawn Mendes at the Earthshot Prize Awards
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
This trip to Brazil is not the first time that Prince William has proven his ascendancy. Take, for example, his meeting with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in December 2024. The President is known to be a great fan of the British monarchy, with many commentators noting that the Firm’s ‘soft power’ could be a key player in maintaining the Special Relationship during a deeply divisive time in American politics.
At the vanguard of this diplomacy? The Prince of Wales, who sat down with the President for what Trump told the New York Post was a ‘great, great talk’ in Paris. ‘He looked really, very handsome last night,’ Trump said. ‘Some people look better in person. He looked great. He looked really nice, and I told him that.’ William would go on to be at the centre of Trump’s second state visit to Britain this September, which saw the royal family host the President at Windsor Castle.