Prince William concluded his visit to the United States on Friday with the Earthshot Awards ceremony, a gala he launched last year to fight climate change. This second edition, which took place in Boston, opened with a short film starring the son of King Carlos III. Viewers saw him call for environmental protection.
“For too long many of us have taken for granted what our planet has to offer,” the Prince of Wales said. “The urgency to save the planet is accelerating, and the time before us to establish meaningful change is getting shorter.”
From the moon landing to the rescue of Earth
As the magazine reports PeopleThe Earthshot Awards are directly inspired by the 1969 moon landing of the Apollo 11 crew, commonly known as “Moonshot” in the English-speaking world.
President John F. Kennedy had set himself a ten-year deadline to achieve this (the goal was achieved seven years later). In addition, the goal of the Earthshot Awards is to be held annually for a decade, highlighting environmental protection initiatives.
“Just as President John F. Kennedy believed humanity could put a man on the moon, I have the same faith today that we can repair and regenerate our planet in the pivotal decade ahead,” Prince William said Friday. in this short movie. “From ‘Moonshoot’ to ‘Earthshot,’ what seems unsolvable can be solved.”
And to conclude: “Together, we can create a viable future for generations to come. Together, we can change the future of our planet.”
Award-winning initiatives
During the evening, five prizes of more than one million pounds (1.2 million euros) each were awarded. A myriad of stars walked the green carpet at Boston’s MGM Music Hall, including singers Ellie Goulding and Annie Lennox, actor Rami Malek and former soccer player David Beckham. The naturalist and television presenter David Attenborough and the actress Cate Blanchett were the judges of this gala-competition.
Winners included a women’s start-up bringing greener cooktops to Kenyan homes and a British company making biodegradable packaging from marine plants. Green projects from Australia, India and Oman also won awards.
New racist controversy
The trip of the Prince of Wales (during which he spoke briefly with Joe Biden) and his wife Kate Middleton in the United States has suffered a new controversy over racism in the United Kingdom, at a bad time for the royal family that wants to recover its image after Harry and Meghan’s departure from the United States.
An 83-year-old former bridesmaid, Susan Hussey, close to Elizabeth II for more than 60 years and godmother to Prince William, resigned on Wednesday after questions (“Where are you from in Africa?”, “D’Where do you come from? really? Where do people like you come from?’), she asked a black feminist, Ngozy Fulani, at a reception in Buckingham on Tuesday night.
Palacio denounced “unacceptable and truly regrettable comments.” Refusing to comment directly on the incident, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the first British head of government of Indian origin, called for “confronting” racism “wherever it is seen.”
The shadow of suspicion of racism thus hangs over the royal family for the second time. In 2021, Meghan and Harry revealed that a member of the royal family had wondered before he was born what color his son Archie would have. The royal family is “certainly not racist,” replied William, cold towards his youngest son Harry.
Source: BFM TV
