Prince William’s biggest event of the year went head-to-head with Prince Harry’s support for military veterans during a trip to Canada on Wednesday.
The Prince of Wales was joined by singers Seu Jorge, Anitta, Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes for his annual Earthshot Prize ceremony at which five innovative solutions to the climate crisis are awarded £1 million (around $1.3 million) each in funding.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry touched down in Canada to meet members of the country’s reserve forces to mark Remembrance, as part of events organized by True Patriot Love, Canada’s national foundation for the military and veteran community.
The Earthshot Prize in Pictures
Ahead of the ceremony, William met Earthshot Prize finalists at the Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro where they looked out over breathtaking views.
And once the show began at Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow, there were musical performances by stars including Anitta, Gilberto Gil, Kylie Minogue, Seu Jorge and Shawn Mendes.
Prince William said in his speech: “When I founded the Earthshot prize in 2020, we had a ten-year goal, to make this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better.
“We set out to tackle environmental issues head on and make real, lasting changes that would protect life on earth. It was a mission driven by the kind of extraordinary optimism we’ve felt here tonight, from these innovators.”
“Their work is the proof we need that progress is possible. Their stories are the inspiration that gives us courage and there’s a great deal we can learn from their determination and their vision for scale, as well as their unyielding belief that we can create a better world. It’s no exaggeration to say that they are the world’s true action heroes,” Prince William added.
Five projects were awarded significant grants to scale their impact, including a Brazilian AI forest restoration startup called re.green, a Bangladeshi disaster resilience non-profit, called Friendship, the Colombian city of Bogotá for a clean-air initiative, Lagos Fashion Week for its focus on sustainable fashion and the United Nations High Seas Treaty for its focus on ocean protection.
Kylie Minogue told Sky News Earthshot was an “incredible initiative,” and added: “I’m really excited to see everyone. There’s amazing people doing incredible things, so it’s good to be here.”
Prince Harry’s Canada Visit
Prince Harry traveled to Toronto on November 5, where he met soldiers from two Canadian reserve regiments, The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada and The Royal Regiment of Canada, to discuss recent deployments and contributions to Canadian military operations globally.
Harry went on to a further visit to the Canadian Royal Navy where he was taken out on a boat to observe “demonstrations from the base’s dive team, deck team weapons display, operations team, and band members, speaking with personnel in attendance about their dual roles as reservists and civilians,” a press release from the Sussex team said.
It continued: “At one of the largest of the Royal Canadian Navy’s 24 Reserve divisions, Prince Harry met with Commander Paul Smith, who made history as the first Black commanding officer of the unit in 2021 and the first Black Commanding Officer of a Canadian warship in 2014.”
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