Prince William turns heads at Earthshot Prize in eco white trainers and vintage blazer

Prince William walked the green carpet along with celebrities such as Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow as he arrived for his Earthshot Prize ceremony in Cape Town – and he followed the dress code by wearing an outfit with a sustainable theme

Prince William has arrived for his planet-saving Earthshot Prize Awards – walking the green carpet in an eco-friendly outfit.

The awards are being held in Cape Town this evening with guests asked to wear sustainable outfits – and William took the dress code seriously, wearing a blazer in Prince of Wales check sourced from a vintage store in London and biodegradable trainers from brand Purified Shoes.

William walked the green carpet with Earthshot Prize ambassadors Robert Irwin, the son of the late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin and South African broadcaster Bonang Matgeba. Also joining the prince at the awards were supermodels Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow as well as actress Nina Dobrev.

They were also joined by the 15 shortlisted individuals and organisations all vying to win one of five £1million Earthshot Prize Awards, which are up for grabs during the ceremony tonight.

Mary Allen, from Natural Fiber Welding who make Purified Shoes, said: “I had no idea Prince William was going to be wearing the shoes until just before we got here. It’s such a huge honour.

“I was told he sourced them himself after learning of our product and it’s a massive boost for us. Meeting all them finalists and being here is going to launch us onto massive things, we couldn’t be prouder. Meeting Prince William today was a huge honour and you can sense the passion he has for this project.”

Meanwhile, model Winnie Harlow, who is presenting one of the awards, said of her involvement: “I was really honoured to get a royal letter asking if I could come here. I felt really honoured because I feel this should be something near and dear to everyone’s heart when it comes to taking care of Mother Earth, the planet. I always think it’s an honour.”

Asked about the Prince of Wales’s decision to set up the prize, she replied: “I think it’s important for everyone to get involved, especially when you have got eyes on you. You want to help focus a lot of eyes on things that are important to everyone.”

Earlier today 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, which aims to find solutions to environmental problems plaguing the planet. 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.

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.”

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.”