Royal fans have all said the same thing as Prince William was spotted beaming during his first day in Cape Town today.
The Prince of Wales arrived in South Africa earlier this morning and will spend the next four days celebrating the Earthshot Prize. The annual ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 6.
The royal kickstarted his trip by meeting young environmentalists taking part in the inaugural Earthshot Climate Leaders Youth Programme. During the meeting, William was heard telling them that they are “going to change the world”.
After pictures from his first day of engangements were released, fans couldn’t but spot the same thing after they saw William’s beaming expression – commenting on how “happy” he looked to be in South Africa.
Taking to X, one fan commented: “[Prince] William is such a good sport!”
Another commented on how much fun William appeared to be having during his first day, writing: “Prince William is having a wonderful time in Cape Town [green-heart emoji].”
Noting how “happy” the royal looked, another commented: “I love to see him so happy.” Another also took to social media, writing: “It’s heartwarming to see him so happy.”
As William was pictured during his first day, the official account for the Earthshot Prize wrote on X: “Another day in spectacular South Africa! We can feel the excitement in the air.”
William was seen showing off his rugby skills alongside legends of the sport just hours after landing in Cape Town for Earthshot Week. A group of teenagers shouted “tackle the prince” as Prince William took part in a game of touch rugby near the township of Masiphymelele, which means “let us succeed”.
The fast-footed school children are benefitting from a rugby project founded by ex-England rugby star Jason Leonard. William played with Joel Stransky, who scored all of South Africa’s points against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, and Tendai Mtawarira, nicknamed “The Beast”, who joked about his last meeting with William – when he wore just a towel.
“You’re still as big as you were – bigger,” the Prince said after shaking hands with the broad-shouldered ex-player, making the group laugh when they reminisced about meeting in a changing room. Mr Mtawarira, now an entrepreneur who runs his own charitable foundation, said afterwards that William met the South African players after they beat Wales to win the Prince William Cup over a decade ago.
“He came into the changing room and I was only dressed in my towel and I shook his hand and I said it was nice to shake your hand now I’m fully dressed – as opposed to half naked,” the ex-player said.
As William arrived in Cape Town, Kensington Palace uploaded a new video on X and showed bits of the city as it celebrated this week’s events. Accompanying the video, the caption read: “Molweni Cape Town, it’s great to be back in South Africa! What a week ahead we have here for the fourth annual @EarthshotPrize Awards and the @united4wildlife Summit. We can’t wait to share it with you.”
The Princess of Wales has not joined William in Cape Town. The 42-year-old has remained at home in Windsor to look after their three children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis.
