The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance on The Graham Norton Show, where he recounted an amusing encounter in Somerset in which he was mistaken for the musician Prince.
William joined Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham on the show's famous red sofa, with all four promoting the Earthshot Prize initiative. His entrance came as a surprise to viewers, as Norton had been chatting with the other guests before casually mentioning the prince's participation, leading to William's theatrical arrival.
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Before turning to the urgent need to tackle climate change, William shared the story of a recent event where an audience member did not recognise him. Norton observed: "Recently you were at an event and someone didn't know who you were?" William responded: "Yes, that happens quite regularly actually."
He went on: "I went to a place in Somerset and was looking around some of the local communities there and one lovely gentleman looked up at me from his seat and said 'when are you going to sing?' and I looked at him, I've had many requests over many years for all ranging parts of society and I said 'I'm sorry what do you mean?' he goes 'when are you going to sing your performance?'."
"And a lady behind tapped his arm and went "no, no he's not that prince." it turned out he wanted me to sing purple rain - which I don't know the lyrics for."
Earthshot Prize at the Halfway Point
Next month, Mumbai hosts the Earthshot Prize, where William will meet Bollywood stars while exploring India's film industry, rub shoulders with cricketing icons and preside over the ceremony distributing £5million in prize money to those putting forward solutions to restore the planet.
William spoke about the origins of the prize and how it identifies and supports innovators across the globe. He said: "For many years I was hearing stories about environment issues and one thing that struck me was the negativity and doom which got me down."
"I thought we could do something more powerful and more optimistic and the idea of an awards' ceremony came about and we could talk about urgency and optimism together. It's all about getting excited."
Blanchett, who sits on the Earthshot Prize council, described the Prize as a "tapestry of solutions", while Irwin, a global ambassador for the initiative, underlined how the prize has nurtured a new generation of environmental advocates.
The Earthshot Prize is at the halfway point of its decade-long programme to recognise and celebrate challenges and ideas aimed at protecting the planet, having previously been held in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Boston and Rio de Janeiro.
