Prince William continues to be a hit in Brazil as he cuddles a baby while swarmed by adoring female fans (and even has a day named in his honour)

The Prince of Wales continued to be a hit in Brazil as he held a baby who was excitedly thrust towards him during a walkabout on Paquetá Island – joking that they ‘mustn’t drop him!’ before giving him a cuddle.

Little ten-month-old Joaquim Monteiro appeared happy in William’s arms, as the future King chatted with the child’s grandmother.

‘Bless him,’ the royal fondly remarked.

Swarmed by legions of adoring female fans, the future king posed for selfies and shook hands with wellwishers, as well as helping several young children come to the front of the festivities.

It is the first time a member of the British Royal Family has visited the area, which is made up of some 5,000 residents and located in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. 

It has declared the occasion ‘The Day of the Prince’, with pupils clamouring to be off school for the celebrations. When asked about any previous royal visitors, one local looked back to 1555 – when the Portuguese Crown landed.

Many young fans created colourful drawings to present as gifts. Marcel Gomes de Castro, 12, gave the Prince two of his best paintings: one seascape and one of a naval boat in the small harbour.

His father Alan said he had finished them two years ago, but that they were so special he wanted to give them as a gift for the Prince.

‘It’s a welcome for William, he wanted to give a gift,’ the parent explained. ‘Everyone here is very excited.’

The royal was heard saying ‘obrigado’ and ‘bom dia’ on repeat, clasping his hands in a signed thank you in lieu of not understanding much of the Portuguese being spoken.

For parts of the walkabout, he called over a translator to understand short conversations.

Meeting a travelling school group, he joked that the ‘teachers are noisier than the kids’ to uproarious laughter.

In another sweet moment, retired lawyer Glaucia Martinez, 60, repeatedly touched William’s hand as he quizzed her about life on Paquetá, where she lives.

‘He asked me about the island and I said that it’s safe, it’s charming, and it’s a good place to live,’ she shared.

‘People here, they are good, good people, you know, honest people, and we live in peace here.

‘And I said that I love Kate.’

Later, the Prince of Wales toured the preserved and protected area of natural beauty in the northeast of Brazil’s picturesque Guanabara Bay.

Vital for biodiversity, it is the only remaining mangrove area in the bay and has been replanted following deforestation.

Managed by the Chico Mendes institute for Biodiversity Conservation, the area is cleaned and protected by local communities including a ten-strong team of Mangrove ‘Guardians’ from Paquetá.

Visitors can take eco-tours, often by boat, to see the dolphins and learn about restoration projects taking place in the area.

Thousands of mangroves, growing up to 4metres tall have been planted in an area previously devastated by deforestation.

On the way, he stopped to speak to local fishermen who use nets stretched across wooden canes to catch fish.

Standing at the front of his speedboat, he spoke about their work and was shown a model of a curral – the traditional trap used to catch the fish. The area contains 1,500 of them.

Stooping down to plant the first of three mangrove trees, William asked: ‘How quickly will this guy take to get to here?’, holding his hand up to around a metre high – and was told they ‘grow pretty quickly’.

‘Look after it. I hope it grows well.’

He then crouched down to another sapling, asking: ‘Is this going in here? Can I help? Is that enough mud? It’s amazing that they live in such water.’

Before getting into the boat he declined a hand wipe and washed his hands in the Caceribu river where the mangroves grow.

As his boat clashed with a media boat, he joked ‘Could we be any closer?’

Before leaving he said: ‘Obrigado [thank you]. I hope they grow well. Next time I come all this will all be mangroves.’

The trees were planted by cooperatives including the government’s national institute of ICMBio and non-profit organisation Instituto Mar Urbano over four years at the rear of the Guanabara Bay.

The conservation work, underway since 2022, has been so successful that researchers have found the area has seen the return of different species including birds, uça crabs, chama maré crabs, spiders and butterflies as the ecosystem shows signs of regeneration.

Rodrigo Toledo, mayor of Paqueta and surrounding islands, said: ‘Paquetá is an area totally dedicated to environmental protection. And we know that Prince William has dedicated his life to this agenda, to the protection of nature, so it is very important for him to come here.

‘We even have a project here on the islands called the ‘Guardians of the Mangroves’, a team hired by the municipality made up of local residents to work on the mangroves, preserving them and providing all the necessary care.’

The guardians, ten full-time employees, pick plastic bottles and other litter from the mangroves and plant saplings.

Eugenia Maria Dos Santos, 60, one of the guardians who helped William plant the new trees said it was a ‘privilege’ to host the prince.

‘The most important thing for me is his humility. Money doesn’t buy happiness. So many people think they are better than others but the prince has come here and used his own hands to plant the mangroves. It brings great happiness to the Brazilian people.’

Janaina Alves, 46, a mangrove conservation worker who met the prince said that she was not familiar with the conservation work of the Prince and the King. She added: ‘I was very nervous because I’ve never met a Prince before. But it was a unique opportunity for him to see what we do.’

Ana Paula Prates, director of oceans and coastal management at the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, joined William in the mangroves, travelling on a separate boat.

She said that the mangroves ‘were just as important as tropical forest’ for conservation efforts because ‘one hectare mangroves absorbs five times as much carbon as one hectare of rain forest’.

She acknowledged, however, that after years of environmental mismanagement the Brazilian government had a ‘challenge’ ahead but she said that it was determined to ‘turn the key’.

William kicked off his official three-day trip to Rio de Janeiro to mark the events leading up to his prestigious environmental awards on Wednesday, The Earthshot Prize.

His first visit to the Latin American country also celebrates 200-years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Brazil after it secured independence from Portugal.

Among the issues that both sides are keen to highlight are nature protection, sustainable development and cultural exchange.

On Monday, he enjoyed a visit to one of the country’s most famous landmarks as he got the scenic cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain for a birds-eye view of the sights.

He was met by Mayor Eduardo Paes, who afforded him the rare honour of presenting him with the keys to the city. This is something normally only given each year to ‘King Momo’, the King of the Rio Carnival.

Rising 396 m (1,299 ft) above the Guanabara Bay, 600-million-year-old Sugarloaf Mountain is a protected natural monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is named after the conical moulds of sugar shipped during the heyday of Brazil’s sugarcane trade.

William was greeted by cheering, excited crowds, who had been unaware that royalty was due to visit that morning, accompanied by the sounds of a local band, Trio Julio.

After being introduced by the Mayor to his deputy and their families, the two men walked down to the mountain’s helipad which boasts stunning views of the city.

The Prince drank up the views for a few minutes as the mayor chatted before he was handed the gold keys to the city in a box.

Speaking afterwards Mayor Paes said he has received a ‘typically informal’ Brazilian welcome.

‘It’s never easy to do with the British royalty, how about the protocols? But, I mean, he was very nice. Amazed with the beauty of the city, and we are very happy to have him here. It’s big honour for the city,’ he explained.

‘So he’s got the keys, he can do whatever he wants in the next 72 hours. The city belongs to Prince William. I’m still the king, but it will belong to him!’

He said the two of them had chatted about a wide variety of issues, including the recent controversial police ‘clean-ups’ of Rio’s favelas.

‘He seemed to be very interested in lots of things. We spoke about politics…my politics, talk about the landscape of Rio, he asked about the favelas. The thing about the forest jumping into the city. We are having a meeting here with a bunch of mayors, so Sadiq Khan [the London Mayor] is here, so we spoke a little bit about the role of mayors. We spoke a lot. ‘

He said it was hugely ‘symbolic’ to have William in Brazil.

‘It’s very symbolic. It shows, first, the connection between Great Britain and Brazil, which is a long relation. And, I mean, it’s like people like him here, so we were very glad to have him,’ the mayor said.

Asked again about recent security issues and whether William appeared concerned or interested in them, he said: ‘I mean, yeah, yeah, I mean, I spoke a lot, I try to explain to him the security issue of the city a little bit. I mean, obviously, it’s much more deep than something that you can explain in five minutes. But it was a good opportunity to explain. ‘

As he left to get the cable car back down again William was mobbed by wellwishers wanting to shake his hand and get a selfie.

Among them were British tourists Jenny and Paul Galliver, from Sutton Courtney near Oxford.

‘We were pretty shocked but then we saw Sadiq Khan at Christ the Redeemer yesterday,’ Jenny said. 

‘It was a lovely surprise to see him. We are very much pro-royal.’

The prince also spoke to Thomas Hunter, 48, from Manchester, who said he thought William was doing a ‘great job’ with Earthshot. ‘I was keen to tell him I work in offshore wind farms,’ he said.

Earthshot is a ten-year initiative designed to highlight and scale-up some of the most innovative solutions to the world’s environmental and climate change challenges, offering five £1 million prizes each year over a decade.

The awards, arguably the most prestigious of their kind in the world, are now half-way through their ten-year challenge.

This year’s finalists were chosen out of nearly 2,500 nominees from 72 countries and include a Brazilian start-up restoring forests with the help of AI and British company Matter, which has developed a filter than can be fitted to washing machines to stop microplastics entering the oceans through laundry and waste water.

William is said to be a very ‘hands-on’ founder, attending meetings, brain storming, making connections behind the scenes and hitting the phones.

One company, ENSO, which makes environmentally friendly tyres for electric cars, now has worldwide deal with cab company Uber as a result of William personally introducing the two.

Knauf said: ‘Earthshot…was founded because this decade is critical – it is a window in which we still have time to act and because Prince William believed that it can be a great human success story.

‘The 2025 Earthshot Prize Summit in Rio de Janeiro is more than an event. It’s a collective call to action. A celebration of what humanity can achieve when we unite behind urgent optimism and bold solutions.’

Later in the week the heir to the throne will travel to Belem, gateway to the Amazonian rainforest, to represent his father for the first time at the COP30 UN Climate Change Summit.

It a significant scaling-up of his own presence on the international stage and will see him stand alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who will also attend the Earthshot awards in Rio.

British Ambassador to Brazil, Stephanie Al-Qaq, said the heir to the throne’s visit came at a ‘moment rich in symbolism and substance’ as the UK marks 200 years of diplomatic relations with the Latin American nation.

She added: ‘We are absolutely delighted that His Royal Highness is going to be joining us. There is huge interest in the British Royal Family here and he is speaking to a younger generation.’

William is attending without his wife, the Princess of Wales, who remains at home in Windsor with their children who are returning to school after the half-term holiday.

Speaking as he departed from London, William said: ‘As I depart for Rio de Janeiro, I am excited for my first visit and to experience Brazil’s vibrant culture, its extraordinary biodiversity, and above all, the warmth of its people.

‘With the world’s eyes turning to Brazil this week, there is no better place to celebrate bold climate leadership. Hosting The Earthshot Prize allows us to not only recognise those driving change, but to be inspired by them. When we work together with optimism and courage, a more sustainable future is within our reach.’