Tragedy: Prince William Broke Royal Protocol in South Africa…. See More

He’s on a solo trip for this year’s Earthshot Prize ceremony.

Prince William has touched down in Cape Town, South Africa, for a four-day trip that’ll see him shining a light on climate change and showcasing one of his passion projects, the Earthshot Prize. Each year, William and the organization celebrate individuals working to find innovative solutions to climate and environmental issues, but that doesn’t mean that the Prince of Wales doesn’t take some time to soak up local culture. Today, William celebrated the start of his trip with a rule-breaking selfie.

While there are no official bans on royals cheesing it up, Queen Elizabeth reportedly hated smartphones and there was a little bit of eyebrow-raising when Queen Camilla indulged a fan during her recent trip to Australia

At an initial meeting with 120 people from across Africa and Southeast Asia, which is where the selfie went down, William shared a sweet message, telling them all that they would “change the world.”

“The Earthshot Prize believes in you, and the reason we set the prize up is for moments like this,” he said. “All of you in this room are future changemakers, you’re the leaders, you’re the people going to make the difference going forwards. It’s your platform. Use it as you need to, take it away, play with it, turn it into something different.”

“Because we believe in you, and what you’re going to do is change the world, I really believe that,” William continued. “This is the generation that are going to do that. And your solutions and your impact are so important and so needed right now. This is not noble, this is business, and what you’re doing is creating solutions and a better life for all of us. Keep it going. Keep the energy up.”

The official Earthshot Price ceremony is set to take place on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 and marks the first time that the Earthshot gala is being hosted in Africa. Billy Porter and South African television presenter Bonang Matheba are set to host and guests include Heidi Klum and newly engaged Nina Dobrev.

Before his big trip (another surprise: he took a commercial flight, per People), William spoke about the special connection that he has with Africa.

Africa has always held a special place in my heart—as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife, and most recently, as the founding inspiration behind the Earthshot Prize,” he said on November 2. “It was in Namibia in 2018 that I realized the power of how innovative, positive solutions to environmental problems could drive transformative change for humans and nature.”