The King and Prince of Wales are tonight undertaking a rare joint public engagement, brought together by their shared passion for the environment.
King Charles and Prince William are at the Natural History Museum in London for ‘Countdown to COP30′, which brings together organisations and individuals tackling the global environmental crisis and nature loss issues ahead of the United Nations’ annual climate change summit in Brazil in November.
Father and son arrived together in the State Bentley from Buckingham Palace where they had met up together beforehand.
Kensington Palace have also tonight confirmed that the heir to the throne will attend the COP30 Leaders Summit on behalf of the monarchy in Belem on November 6.
He will already be in Brazil for his fifth annual Earthshot Prize Awards in Rio de Janeiro that week.
At the ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’ exhibition they were greeted warmly by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband.
Miliband told Prince William how grateful he was that he had come because of ‘how important this is’.
They spoke of how busy the summit is – which is being held in Belem, at the start of the Brazilian Amazon – and how tight accommodation was, joking they might be forced to share a room.
In previous years Charles – a lifelong campaigner on green issues – attended when he was Prince of Wales, with the baton now being handed down to his eldest son.
However palace sources have said they could not rule out the King attending a future event.
While the the King and the prince do attend State occasions together, they are less seen in public on more general engagements and their dual presence shows the importance of the issues to both men.
Pictured: The King and Prince of Wales are tonight undertaking a rare joint public engagement, brought together by their shared passion for the environment
Pictured: King Charles and Prince William at the Natural History Museum in London for ‘Countdown to COP30’
Pictured: King Charles shaking the hand of a military personnel at the event
Pictured: King Charles and Prince William walking up the steps to enter the Natural History Museum together
Father and son viewed photography by the Woodland Trust before meeting business and finance leaders to hear how they are supporting projects to protect forest and woodlands in the UK and around the world.
William told the Brazilian ambassador to the UK, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, that he was delighted to be bringing the prize to his country and hoped that Brazilian nominations for the awards would bring an air ‘of collective excitement’.
‘I’m really looking forward to it,’ he added.
Inside the museum’s iconic Hintze Hall, Charles and William viewed displays highlighting innovative solutions developed in the UK to some of the world’s climate and nature challenges.
Powerful films about the importance of saving the planet including William’s own Guardians series, highlighting the vital work of conservation rangers, and ‘The Speeches: 50 Years of Speaking Up for the Planet’ looking back at the King’s legacy on the issue.
He is widely considered to be one of the leading global voices on environmental issues, while William has followed in his footsteps with his own Earthshot Prize awards, designed to discover and develop some of the most ground-breaking solutions to repairing and regenerating the planet.
Afterwards the two men split to view displays highlighting innovative solutions developed in the UK to some of the world’s climate and nature challenges.
As they walked around, powerful films about the importance of saving the planet including William’s own Guardians series, highlighting the vital work of conservation rangers, and ‘The Speeches: 50 Years of Speaking Up for the Planet’ looking back at the King’s legacy on the issue.
Pictured: Former prime minister Theresa May and her husband Philip arriving at the Countdown to Cop30 event which brings together organisations and individuals tackling the global environmental crisis and nature loss issues
Pictured: Ed Miliband arriving at the event hosted by King Charles and Prince William
Pictured: Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy and his wife Nicola Green arriving at the Countdown to Cop30 event
Among those the King, 76, spoke to were Claire Lund of GSK, who have long been involved in his Sustainable Markets Initiative and are sponsoring the Fixing Our Broken Planet exhbition at the museum.
‘His Majesty said of what we are all doing: ‘Isn’t it wonderful, but we need to do more’
‘He also spoke to Marisa Drew, chief sustainability officer at Standard Bank, and was touched to hear he had taken her on a private tour of Highgrove a decade ago, firing her journey with sustainability.
Charles also spoke to schoolchildren Ibrahim Nyang, 12, and Jaydah Hinton, 12, from Harris Academy in Chobham, Surrey, about the brilliant work they have done transforming their school into a nature paradise with a pond and new eco-systems.
‘He told us what we were doing was marvellous in terms of the biodiversity we have created and how much more beautiful it was,’ Ibrahim said.
Jaydah added: ‘He asked us how we felt about our school now and told us toi keep up with what we are doing.’
Before he left William came to find his father and said a fond farewell, the two men touching arms and chatting.
Natural History Museum Director Dr Doug Gurr said: ‘We need everyone in society to get on board to tackle the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. The collective commitment to act for the planet was palpable tonight – from the support of His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the leadership of the UK Government, to the school students who are striving to transform their school grounds, making them a haven for wildlife.’
