The King and Prince William were snapped sharing a sweet moment as the royal pair stepped out together for a rare joint public engagement on Thursday.
Charles, 76, and his 43-year-old son were brought together by their shared passion for the environment to attend an event at the Natural History Museum in London.
Called ‘Countdown to COP30’, it brought 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.
The pair arrived together in the State Bentley from Buckingham Palace where they had met up together beforehand.
After exiting their car, they were filmed making their way up to the steps to the museum, where they could be seen chatting in what appeared to be a fairly animated manner.
At one point, the father and son shared a sweet moment: as they were talking, William touched the monarch’s arm, before His Majesty returned the gesture.
Then the two were seen putting their arms on each other, with William putting a gentle hand on his father’s shoulder, who, in response, touched his son’s elbow.
During the ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’ exhibition the royal pair were greeted warmly by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband.
King Charles (pictured, right) and Prince William (pictured, right) shared a sweet tactile moment during a recent rare joint public appearance in London
Miliband told Prince William how grateful he was that he had come because of ‘how important this is’.
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.
The monarch 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.
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’
The royal father and son (pictured) were seen putting their arms on each other as they made their way to the event on Thursday
Prince William (pictured, left) and King Charles (pictured, right) are pictured making their way to the London event
‘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.’
King Charles and Prince William’s outing came as Kensington Palace last night 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.
