Prince William Is in Dad Mode During a Rare TV Appearance — How the Kids Put Him to 'Shame'

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince William poses with Blue Peter Earthshot Prize winners at Windsor Castle.Photo:Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace

Prince William’s Earthshot Prize is already inspiring the next generation of environmental advocates.

The Prince of Wales, 42, recently welcomed the five winners of theBlue Peter Earthshot Competitionto Windsor Castle. This competition, a collaboration between the BBC children’s showBlue Peterand the Earthshot Prize, invited children aged 5 to 15 to propose innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

As seen in the episode airing Feb. 7, the children joined the royal for a Blue Peter “Here’s One I Made Earlier” moment, creating eco-friendly bird feeders together. The group cut out tree shapes from cardboard — and at one point, host Joel Mawhinney realized that the children were done with their work before himself and Prince William.

“Putting us to shame,” Mawhinney said, to which William replied, “I know, seriously.”

One girl asked, “What has been your most interesting Earthshot idea?”

William responded, “There’s been so many,” before explaining a project that created lab-grown coral reef that can withstand “super duper” hot temperatures.

Prince William speaks on stage during his visit to the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme on November 4, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.Chris Jackson/Getty

Chris Jackson/Getty

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A main motivatorthat inspired Prince William to start the Earthshot Prize were his own children —Prince George, 11,Princess Charlotte, 9, andPrince Louis, 6. In 2021, the year after the environmental project launched, former chief executive of the Royal Foundation Jason Knauf said of Prince William, “The challenge [William] set himself was, ‘What is the maximum positive personal contribution I can make in the next 10 years in the fight against climate change? What am I going to do in the next decade that means I can look my children in the eye and say that I did my bit?’ Every aspect of the Prize bears the stamp of his contribution."

In the foreword for the bookEarthshot: How to Save Our Planet, Prince William expounded on why he created the ambitious project, writing, “I have seen people all over the world face what seems like insurmountable challenges yet come together with collective ambition, and a can-do spirit, to find solutions to them. I strongly believe that change is possible when you put your mind to it.”

source: people.com