‘Amazing’ Prince William compared to mum Diana and said to be ‘following in her footsteps’ with his £50m eco-prize
PRINCE William was compared to his mother Princess Diana and said to be “following in her footsteps” after his £50m eco-prize giving.
The Prince of Wales, 42, marvelled at a freshly caught fish and joined with catwalk queens Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow for a seaside barbecue.
The supermodels had both helped announce winners at his Earthshot Prize in Cape Town on Wednesday.
And joined Wills yesterday in Kalk Bay fishing village, near Cape Town, after arriving into the bay in a lifeboat wearing a lifejacket.
Winnie, 30, said afterwards: “I’ve heard so much about Diana and her charity work and being with him really felt like an extension of her.
“It really was a beautiful moment to see him following in her footsteps.”
Klum, 51, said: “He has been so amazing, so welcoming to all of us and quite normal in a way.”
Wills kicked off his final day at Simon’s Town Harbour, home to the country’s largest naval base, with volunteers working for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI)
He then jumped in a lifeboat and sailed 20 minutes to Kalk Bay to meet former Earthshot Prize nominee Abalobi, for a traditional South African Braai, or barbecue,
The Prince of Wales said he woke up feeling “emotional” and “excited” about how his Earthshot night had gone.
Presenters Billy Porter and Tobe Nwigwe also joined the prince in the harbour.
He was met with cries of ‘We love you William’ and people brandishing Union Flags and the South African flag – but also heckled by several protesters including local fishermen.
He was given five beaded key rings to take home for his family by Kate Wardle, 46, from Kalk Bay.
Wills said: “Thank you very much, they’ll love those. Never go home empty handed, that’s important.”
And said to the crowd: “I love Cape Town, I’ve had the most amazing week here, I’ve really enjoyed it.
“I don’t want to go. My children would love to be here, so would Catherine.”
The appearance was greeted with hecklers from local fishermen who were annoyed they had not been invited.
One of them, Duwayne Baulse, 29, who has been a fisherman for 15 years since he left school, said afterwards: “They aren’t based here and they don’t buy our fish.
“People only come here when it is sunny.
“We are here in the rain and storms. They have excluded us.
“William has not come to look at our fish.
“No one told us the Prince was coming. Abalobi don’t support us.
“This is our harbour.
“We are not angry with him (William).
“We want people to come here more often. Not this set up.
“It’s like a stage they put on in North Korea.”
After the engagement Serge Raemaekers, the co-founder of Abalobi, said: “I have a feeling that the noise in the background was very much around the fact that we haven’t reached these fishing communities yet.
“We’re still a relatively small programme trying to scale and as you can see here there are quite a lot of boats with fishermen and fisherwomen that come from a lot of different areas.
“I’m imagining that this fishery felt ‘Hey, I’m being left out here’ and I understand. In the last couple of years small scale fishers have had a tricky engagement with obtaining fishing rights.”
William finished his four-day trip to Cape Town at a Global Seaweed Coalition Roundtable.