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Prince & Princess of Wales

The Duke of Cambridge announces London will host first Earthshot Prize ceremony

The Duke of Cambridge has announced that the first Earthshot Prizes will be handed out this autumn at an iconic London building.

Prince William headed to Alexandra Palace in London to confirm the awards will be presented on October 17th 2021. The famous landmark will be the backdrop for the ceremony which will see five recipients each pick up awards worth £1 million.

The Earthshot Prize is open to anyone and is looking for ideas to tackle major environmental challenges. The prize money is awarded to help put those solutions into practice.

The Duke of Cambridge launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020. The judging panel includes Queen Rania of Jordan as well as Sir David Attenborough.

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The judges will come up with a list of fifteen finalists who will be announced in July 2021. There area five categories under consideration: to protect and restore nature; to revive the oceans; to clean air; fix the climate and build a waste-free world. The winners will be chosen from that shortlist and announced at the inaugural awards ceremony which will also include performances from music stars with a full line up set to be announced in the coming weeks.

As he revealed London will host the inaugural Earthshot Prize, Prince William said ””London is a fantastic location to showcase this leadership, spotlight the finalists and award our very first Earthshot Prize winners. The awards ceremony will be a truly global event, connecting people from all over the world to celebrate these inspiring leaders and their innovations to solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges.”

Ahead of the announcement, the Duke also met London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who said he welcomed the decision to host the first awards in the UK capital.

The Earthshot Prize will run every year until 2030. The inaugural awards will be shown on BBC One.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.