Prince William meets young environmentalists and plays rugby on first day of South Africa visit

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Britain's Prince William offered words of encouragement to a group of young environmentalists and later joined a rugby practice at a local school as he began a visit to South Africa on Monday that will focus heavily on climate change and conservation.

The Prince of Wales will have four days of engagements in Cape Town, during which he'll see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organizations for innovative environmental ideas. The awards ceremony will take place in a 470-foot-long reusable dome that will be packed up and taken away after the event.

The Earthshot awards on Wednesday night are the centerpiece of William's trip to South Africa's second-biggest city. But the 42-year-old heir to the throne will also attend a global wildlife summit, visit a botanical garden on the slopes of Cape Town's landmark Table Mountain, spend time at a sea rescue base and meet with a local fishing community.

The prince will use the visit to highlight other issues close to his heart, such as the work of rangers on the front line of conservation efforts, officials said.

William's first engagement was joining more than 100 young environmentalists aged between 18 and 35, who sat in small groups and discussed climate and conservation issues. William jumped from group to group and spent a few minutes talking with them.

“I loved chatting to you today. What you are all doing is incredible," William said at the end. “You are the leaders. You are the people that are going to make the difference going forward. Your solutions and your impact are so important and so needed right now."

William formed the Earthshot Prize through his Royal Foundation in 2020 to encourage new ideas to solve environmental problems, with a focus on young entrepreneurs and innovators. It launched in 2021 and the first three awards ceremonies were held in Britain, the United States and Singapore.

William last visited Africa in 2018 but he has a strong connection to the continent. He traveled there 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.

Kate, Princess of Wales, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not traveling to South Africa. Kate, 42, only recently returned to some public duties after completing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.

William’s visit follows soon after his brother Harry, the Duke of Sussex, visited South Africa and neighboring Lesotho last month for a youth charity he set up in southern Africa with a member of Lesotho’s royal family.

The visit also comes as the finances of William and his father, King Charles III, come under scrutiny following an investigation by The Sunday Times newspaper and Britain’s Channel 4 television. The probe found their private estates made millions of pounds by renting properties to government entities, including the armed forces, the National Health Service and public schools.

The two estates, the king’s Duchy of Lancaster and the prince’s Duchy of Cornwall, hold portfolios of commercial, residential and agricultural properties that provide personal income to the royals.

The Duchy of Lancaster responded by saying that while the king takes an interest in the estate, day-to-day operations are overseen by an independent council and executives. The Duchy of Cornwall said the estate operates with a commercial imperative “alongside our commitment to restoring the natural environment and generating positive social impact for our communities.’’

William briefly broke away from environmental issues to travel to a high school in the underprivileged Ocean View neighborhood on the fringes of Cape Town on Monday.

There, William — dressed in a dark suit and gray shirt — joined in at a rugby practice. He kicked and passed the ball but also became the target of playful tackles from a few of the youngsters. They yelled: “Let’s tackle the prince!" before two of them grabbed a smiling William.

Rugby is one of South Africa's favorite sports and its national team is the reigning world champion. Three former South Africa rugby stars were at the practice session to greet the prince.

Wiliam is also a follower of the game and a spokesperson for Kensington Palace had promised that the prince would play some rugby.

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Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.