Prince William gave a keynote speech at the Earthshot Awards ceremony awards in Cape Town on Wednesday, where a body language expert has since praised the prince for being his “authentic” self.
Addressing his audience, the Prince of Wales said he wanted “to champion the dreamers, the thinkers, and the innovators from every walk of life, who share an ambition to build a better, more sustainable world”.
The heir to the throne also opened and closed the speech with phrases in nine different African languages including Swahili, Zulu and Sesotho.
Body language expert, Darren Stanton, speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, said: “During his speech, William’s tone is loud, so verbally, he appears to be his usual confident self.
“However, his non-verbal behaviour suggests a level of uncertainty. His arms are crossed in front of his body, and that can be an unconscious thing we do to protect ourselves when we feel overwhelmed.”
Speaking further about the future King’s approach, the expert added: “But he doesn’t seem to be trying to hide these emotions. He showed an authentic approach to this appearance.”
The body language expert also compared William’s speech from last year’s award ceremony in Singapore. He said: “If you compare William’s speech at last year’s Earthshot ceremony to the most recent, this is clearly a man who has a plethora of responsibilities. He is still his charming self on stage and seems to believe in his inner strength – but at times you can see he has a clenched jaw, and his eyebrows are pulled together.”
As the evening celebrated the five winners from 15 finalists, who each took home a £1million prize to help launch and scale their ideas, William said the Earthshot Prize “isn’t just a celebration of winners. It’s a collaborative movement for change”.
William said: “I believe our world can be rich in possibility, in hope, and in optimism. That is why the Earthshot Prize exists. To champion the game-changers, the inventors, the makers, the creatives, the leaders.
“To help them build upon the amazing things they’ve already achieved. To speed their innovations to scale. And to inspire the next generation to create the future we all need.”
The five winners who will each now receive £1 million to scale up their projects were: Fix Our Climate – Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, Revive Our Oceans -High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, Build a Waste-Free World – Keep IT Cool, Protect and Restore Nature -Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative and Clean Our Air -Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO).
William revealed there have been more than 5,000 nominations since Earthshot was born and almost 400 from Africa alone this year, adding: “Each of those solutions should be seen as a reminder that Africa is a hub of creativity and innovation that will solve our planet’s toughest environmental challenges.”
On the green carpet, ahead of the event, William candidly admitted Africa was as “a big part of his life” and also called the continent “home from home”.
He added: “Every time I come here I can be myself and get away from all the stuff that happens in my normal life.”