The Prince of Wales is evolving into a “global statesman”, a palace spokesman has said, ahead of a meeting with the president of South Africa.
Prince William will sit down with Cyril Ramaphosa alongside the foreign secretary, David Lammy, and his South African counterpart Ronald Lamola, in what has been billed the “highest level engagement” that will help cement a “really important” bilateral relationship.
The meeting comes ahead of the fourth annual Earthshot Awards, which will be hosted by the Prince in Cape Town on Wednesday evening.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “It’s another example of the evolution of William as a global statesman, as we’ve seen, whether it be representing his father in Kuwait last year, or indeed, when he was sat with 15 other world leaders at D Day earlier this year.”
He described the meetings the Prince held with leaders in each of the countries that have hosted the Earthshot Awards, including the US president Joe Biden in Boston in 2022, as the “golden thread” of each visit.
“It’s really important that the Earthshot Award travels to all four corners of the planet,” he added.
“But having that relationship with the head of state, to thank them for their work, to help us promote the Earthshot Prize, and that urgent optimism, is really important to the Prince.
“The UK-South Africa relationship is really important.”
Antony Phillipson, the British High Commissioner to South Africa, said the Prince’s visit enabled “the highest level engagement” between the two countries since the South African general election in May this year.
“We very much see this as a follow up to the state visit of November 2022 which we continue to see here as a very historic moment through the UK and South Africa, as the first state visit hosted by His Majesty the King, the fourth state visit hosted by either the previous Queen or the King for a South African president,” he added.
“The president himself feels that he has a connection with the King, and obviously, William is the future king.”
Mr Lammy’s visit to Cape Town offers the chance to do some “hard policy work”, Mr Phillipson said. It also shows his willingness to strengthen ties with South Africa ahead of the G20 summit, which will be held in the country next year.
“It shows he is here because he wants to be here,” he added.
The meeting comes after Mr Ramaphosa opted to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, hosted by the King in Samoa last month, in favour of the annual meeting of the Kremlin-led Brics bloc, led by Vladimir Putin in Kazan, central Russia.
The Prince will kick off his four-day visit to Cape Town on Monday by joining more than 100 young environmentalists from across Africa and South-East Asia who are taking part in an Earthshot youth programme.
The Prince will on Monday launch a series of programmes targeting children as young as five as it emerged that 2,000 young people entered the Earthshot Blue Peter competition.
Children aged five-15 were invited to submit an idea aimed at achieving one of the five “Earthshots”, the aspirational environmental goals established by the Earthshot Prize.
As the Prince seeks to create a legacy that stretches well beyond his visit, he will also next week announce a welfare package for wildlife rangers that aims to support more than 10,000 people over five years.
The initiative follows the death of Anton Mzimba, 42, an “incorruptible” park ranger who was gunned down by hitmen at his home in 2022, just months after briefing Prince Wiliam on how organised crime had become heavily involved in rhino poaching in South Africa.
The Prince was so upset he made a significant private donation to support Mzimba’s family.
