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Robert Irwin praised Prince William’s passion for conservation after they appeared together at a London Climate Action Week eventSteve Irwin’s 21-year-old son said, “He knows exactly what’s going on. In most conversations I have with His Royal Highness, I learn something”The Prince of Wales spoke onstage at the event about his excitement to bring his Earthshot Prize to Brazil in November
Robert Irwin had no creepy crawly surprises for Prince William during their latest get-together.
Earlier on June 24, the Prince of Wales had joked to a BBC Radio host that Irwin may harbor wildlife in one of his pockets. But asked whether he had anything in his jacket after hosting a discussion during a stop in London Climate Action Week, Irwin says with a laugh, “No, nothing.”
“I have taken it easy on him,” Steve Irwin’s 21-year-old son says. “I haven’t just whipped out any tarantulas or anything. But to be honest, if there’s anyone who could handle that, it’s him. I mean, he’s been around wildlife from the time he was really, really young.”
The Australian conservationalist adds, “I talk to him about animals, and like, he is on it. He knows exactly what’s going on. In most conversations I have with His Royal Highness, I learn something. I really do.”
“And it’s funny because when you’re talking to him — I was just talking to him just now — and we’re talking about how great it is here in London and Climate Action Week, and I mentioned Notpla, this awesome finalist who’s working on reducing plastic and using kelp. And you just see his face light up, and he’s like, ‘Aren’t they just the coolest? Aren’t they just doing such a great job, and they’re gonna be at Wimbledon? How awesome is that?’ ” he adds.
“It’s this genuine sense of passion. I love that passion. Like that’s what I seek. I seek out people that feel like kindred spirits, you know? So it’s really awesome. Really is,” Irwin says.
Prince William and Robert Irwin at London Climate Action Week event on June 24, 2025.
Carlos Jasso – WPA Pool/Getty
Like Prince William, Irwin has grown up in a family in the public eye and senses that the royal will be passing on his commitment to conservation and his optimism that change can be created to his own children: Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7.
“The dad that I had, the mum that I have guided me through life. You can’t help but have a sense of eagerness to really continue their legacy,” Irwin, who is an ambassador for the prince’s Earthshot Prize, says. “So I think Prince William is certainly creating an amazing legacy for his kids and for an entire generation to take inspiration from.”
“I have no doubt that they’ll carry up that mission,” he continues. “It is wonderful. I was born and raised and grew up in a family business and a family environment, you know, creating this amazing empire of conservation and a positivity. And there is such a symmetry in what Prince William, the environment that he grew up in, how he traveled so much from such a young age and got to see wildlife around the world.”
”I’m sure that’s really inspired him. And so I feel like it’s a really special thing to be able to take all the experiences that you have in your life and inspire the next generation. That is what life’s about. And he’s doing a fantastic job at that,” he adds. “So, we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think we got this. I think we got this. And I think the future’s in really good hands. I mean, all the young guns coming up, like the passion is there. We just gotta give him the tools to go out and get it done.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, Prince William, Rita Maria El Zaghloul and Robert Irwin at London Climate Action Week event on June 24, 2025.
Carlos Jasso – WPA Pool/Getty
Earlier, during his on-stage discussion at Leading with Impact held by Bloomberg Philanthropies at the media and finance company’s London HQ, Prince William said that the Earthshot Prize — his 10-year project to champion great environmental ideas — has “evolved over time, even to the point we were talking today, we’re still evolving.”
“So the concept of scaling, if you like — highlighting, spotlighting these incredible people and solutions — is still evolving as we go through the decade of change,” the royal, 43, said. “And for those of you who don’t know — by 2030, the Earthshot Prize in its current guise will cease to exist. We very much want to make sure this is a decade of change.”
“This is a 10-year program. So those of you who are sitting now, thinking, ‘Oh, I might get involved next year,’ you need to be involved now because this won’t be around,” William continued. “The change that’s happening is designed deliberately to be a finite period so that we all start moving, we all start getting the point, we all start backing these brilliant people and their solutions.”
Michael R. Bloomberg and Prince William at London Climate Action Week event on June 24, 2025.
Carlos Jasso – WPA Pool/Getty
The next awards will be held at the futuristic building holding the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio, Brazil, on Nov. 5. The Prince of Wales spoke about his excitement at taking it to South America and around the world.
“It means a lot of jet lag,” William quipped when asked what it meant. “I’m thrilled. I’ve not been to Brazil, but I’m not doing this just because I’ve not been. From a personal point of view, I’ve always wanted to get to South America, particularly to Brazil. So I’m personally very excited about going down there.”
He cited the variety of the ecosystem, the environmental interest and passion there as “really important.”
“And I think they epitomize the approach to what we can be doing more sustainably,” he added.
“The vibrancy, the energy, the enthusiasm. I think the award ceremony down there will be spectacular. We are very much allowing countries to do it their way. So this will have a very strong Brazilian flavor to it, which is what we love,” William added. “And we hope to be able to produce some South American solutions, hopefully some Brazilian ones too.”
Prince William at London Climate Action Week event on June 24, 2025.
CARLOS JASSO/POOL/AFP via Getty
“It really is a case of until countries see and feel and touch the Earthshot Prize, they don’t quite necessarily know what it is. But the legacy we leave after we’ve been there is three times the amount before we go there. And our finalists, our solution makers, are heralded as real change makers after the prize has gone through that country,” Prince William said. “And so I hope we’ll see that in South America. I hope the rest of the continent really embrace it and want to have it there. But these collaborations come from not just because we need diverse solutions, we need diverse geographies. We need the globe to be invested in it and everyone to feel it and buy into it.”
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During the discussion, William added, “Everything we want to do here starts with a team game. And the prize is just the pinnacle of the ability to showcase all the brilliant people around who are working in this space to better the planet, to better our futures, and to make life more sustainable in all walks of life.”
“A lot of people think the Earthshot Prize is just about climate change. It really isn’t. It’s about waste. It’s about plastic pollution, it’s about the health of our ocean. It’s about the air we breathe. It’s all the things that we as human beings care about. It takes a village to raise a family. And if you take that into a concept, the planet, it takes all of us who are living on this planet to raise that planet and, and look after it. And I think I’m really proud of how the solutions have come together and the impact they’ve had.”
“No one person, no one thing can fix it. It is politicians, it’s business, it’s solution makers, it’s innovators, it’s business leaders. The whole thing has to come together to really have the impact.”