Prince William recreates famous Princess Diana photo in Rio de Janeiro
Following in his mother’s footsteps, the Prince of Wales posed for a photo in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday.
Prince William stood at the spot where Diana, Princess of Wales, took in the stunning view of Rio from the top of Corcovado Mountain.
William is on a five-day visit to Brazil, his first visit to the South American country, to organize the Earthshot Prize, a global environmental competition to find solutions to “fix” the planet.
Meanwhile, William’s estranged brother, the Duke of Sussex, wrote a passionate essay ahead of Remembrance Day, describing his pride in fighting for his country and his love of “the things that make us British”.
Harry’s remarks are understood to have been published on Wednesday to avoid distracting from William’s keynote speech at the COP30 climate talks in Amazonia on Thursday and national commemorations in the coming days, culminating in the Cenotaph ceremony on Sunday.
The event will be a star-studded ceremony in Rio on Wednesday evening, where Kylie Minogue and Canadian singer Shawn Mendes will perform, and five winners will be awarded £1 million.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will join William at the awards ceremony, where the prince will deliver the opening speech, after which both men will meet world leaders at the global climate change summit in Belem, Amazon, on Thursday.
William traveled to the famous statue depicting Jesus to meet the 15 Earthshot finalists to hear about their experiences so far and their hopes for the future.
At the summit, which was closed to the public due to the prince’s 45-minute visit, William gazed out at the spectacular Guanabara Bay before returning to recreate his mother’s painting.
During a six-day tour of Brazil with Charles in April 1991, she paused for a moment of quiet reflection at the spot where the late princess posed.
In the background was the world-famous Sugarloaf Mountain, featured in a photo of Diana taken 34 years ago, when the future king was an eight-year-old schoolboy.
A Kensington Palace spokesman told media traveling with William: “The Prince loved meeting so many people from all over Rio over the last few days.
“He was incredibly touched by the number of people who fondly remembered his mother’s visit to this beautiful city.”
When William chatted to British finalist Adam Root, founder and CEO of Matter, whose invention removes microplastics from washing machine water, he said he would use the new device.
The Prince said: “It’s a great idea, we’ll pay for it in full” and Mr Root replied: “We can certainly do that.”
The entrepreneur from Essex, who was nominated in the Revitalize Our Oceans category, developed the filter that collects microplastics from clothes on his mother-in-law’s dining table, supported by a £250 grant from The King’s Trust.
The business began producing filters for domestic washing machines and has since raised more than £15 million for its work and employs around 45 people.
The prince later took part in a “fireside” chat ahead of the Earthshot awards ceremony and was asked about his recent appearance in comic actor Eugene Levy’s travelogue series.
William told the comic that King’s reign would feature “change,” and the interviewer at the Earthshot event asked: “There’s a lot of change in your own family; where do you see change, what do you think needs to happen?”
The Prince replied: “I think the Earthshot Prize is a classic example of change, we do it rather than talk about it. Change will come not by what I do, but by supporting them. It’s really important that the next generation believes that change is coming.”
William was speaking at the Earthshot Award impact meeting, an event that brought together government officials, indigenous leaders and youth advocates to share last year’s inspiring Earthshot stories ahead of the awards ceremony.
