Prince William opened up in rare interview ahead of his Earthshot Prize Awards in Cape Town tonight saying he hopes his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are proud. He also gave an update on wife Kate who has just finished chemotherapy treatment for cancer

Prince William has told of his hope that his three children are ‘proud’ of his planet saving Earthshot Prize awards as he prepares to award million pound prizes to the winners in Cape Town tonight.

The Prince of Wales also paid a heartfelt tribute to his wife Kate, who has just finished eight months of chemotherapy treatment for cancer, saying: “She’s been amazing this whole year”. The future king also told of his belief that the awards encompass optimism as the planet enters a critical phase. William met the 15 finalists of his global environmental awards this morning at the glorious Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens at the foot of the iconic Table Mountain, telling them “we are here for you”.

He heralded their planet saving solutions which will be broadcast to an audience of millions at a glittering ceremony tonight in Cape Town, live for the first time on YouTube, and revealed he had brought his children “along that journey” of being more aware of our role in saving the planet.

In an interview with British media, William spoke of his love for Africa and thanked South Africans for their “exuberance and energy” in hosting the fourth annual awards. William spoke of his desire to focus on the next generation – especially Gen-Z – and said he is working on the basics of environmentalism with his children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine and Prince Louis, five.

He said: “You know, every family tries to do what they can to sort of help with the environment. We go through all the basics of recycling and making sure we minimise water use and turning off lights when we leave the house and stuff like that, and making sure, which is sensible in what we do around the environment. And I think every family has these conversations. You just try to do what you can.”

Speaking about the scale of Earthshot, which is handing out five £1million prizes over a decade for planet saving solutions, he said: “The Earthshot Prize has got to be a bit more global than that. We are trying to do big scale ambition and big scale business to tackle some of the solutions.

“But I brought the children along that journey and tonight I hope they are watching and they are proud of kind of what we are try to do here, which is to really galvanise that energy that enthusiasm to make real impact.”

Throughout his time in Cape Town this week, William has been seen with a handmade bracelet, gifted to him by his daughter. Revealing that it was a gift from Charlotte from their trip to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley Stadium earlier this year, with Prince George, William added: “Well, this is a this is a, I think, a relic, if you like, from a Taylor Swift concert that my daughter decided that she wanted to create a bracelet for. She gave it to me when I came away. So I promised that I would wear it and try not to lose it while I was out here.”

Paying tribute to his wife, the Princess of Wales, who has taken a leave of absence from the start of the year when she was hospitalised after abdominal surgery and later diagnosed with cancer, William said she would be watching the awards with interest from the family home in Windsor. When asked how the Princess was doing, the future king said: “She’s doing really well thanks. And hopefully she is watching tonight, so cheering me on. She’s been amazing this whole year. I know she will be really keen to see tonight be a success.”

As William prepares for his ‘Super Bowl’ moment by launching the awards for the first time in Africa tonight, he thanked his hosts for the wonderful reception received this week. He added: “I’ve been greatly looking forward to the time I can bring Earthshot to Africa. I love this continent.

“And spent many a year looking around exploring it. And just really thrilled to have the reception of the exuberance and energy that’s going to be in this room tonight around Earthshot in South Africa.”

William also told of his belief that the awards encompass optimis” as the planet enters a critical phase. He said: “I think everyone wants some hope and wants some optimism. I think the Earthshot encompasses urgent optimism. That’s what we’re here for. And as I think you will see tonight, the amount of youth from Africa who’ll be in here.

“They’ll be letting you know and letting everyone know that it matters to them. And without them, you know, the future is looking pretty bleak. So these are the game changers. These are the innovators. These are the inventors that are going to make the world a better place for us in the future.”