Prince William and Hannah Waddingham at London pub for environment talks over darts and a pint
The Prince of Wales has opened up about the motivations behind his Earthshot Prize - over a game of darts and a pint.
William ordered a cider - his favourite tipple - when he met with actor Hannah Waddingham at London’s Alexandra Palace, which is staging the World Darts Championship.
In a video released on the prince’s social media channels, he reveals he talks to his children about the importance of nature and stresses how we all should venture into the natural world.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“So I talk to my children the whole time about it, and it’s important that they see, touch, feel and go into nature,” the future King said in the footage, in which the pair joke about their lack of darts prowess.
“It’s very hard for anyone to understand what’s the point of protecting it if you never use it - and it’s really important we get people out into nature because then they’ll value it.
“We can’t take for granted what we have.
“We have to protect it, we have to look after it, we have to think about it in a way that is sustainable and beneficial for all of us.”
Affectionately known as Ally Pally, the north-London venue also staged the first Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in 2021, with Boston hosting the following year; Singapore, co-hosted by Waddingham, in 2023 and in November it was Cape Town’s turn.
Prince William founded the prize to recognise and scale up ideas to help “repair” the planet, with five winning finalists each awarded Stg1 million ($A2 million) to further develop their ideas.
Awards are presented in five categories or Earthshots - protect and restore nature; clean our air, revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.
Ted Lasso actor Waddingham presents a BBC documentary called The Earthshot Report about Prince William’s ambitious project and he features, introducing the film.
During the darts match, the Prince told the actor about his goals for the prize.
“It took a long time. I wasn’t sure how to create and galvanise action, the element of trying to stay positive about everything rather than negative was really important,” he said.
“So that’s where the awards ceremony came from, which was to celebrate talent and solutions rather than tell people ‘don’t do this and don’t do that’.
“You have to be so careful.
“I don’t want to preach. I want to find solutions because that’s always healthier for everyone.”
