Stars arrive for William’s inaugural Earthshot ceremony

Hollywood stars arrived in recycled outfits as they joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the first awards ceremony for William’s environmental prize.

The duke will call for society to “unite in repairing our planet” at the inaugural awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize.

Harry Potter star Emma Watson, wearing a wedding dress made of 10 dresses from Oxfam, and Dame Emma Thompson were among those on the “green carpet” ahead of the event at Alexandra Palace in north London.

Kate arrived wearing an Alexander McQueen dress made for her in 2011, while her husband wore a dark green velvet blazer and a polo neck.

No stars have flown to London and guests were asked by organisers to “consider the environment when choosing their outfit”.

Speaking on her way into the event, Dame Emma criticised throwaway culture and said her parents would have been horrified by how society dumps its waste on the streets.

She said: “If we had shown my parents how people live (today) how they will wander down the streets and coffee cup, immediately throw it away, eat, throw away, everything throwaway, they would’ve gone ‘what’s going on?’.”

Awards co-presenter Clara Amfo spoke about the duke’s acting skills.

She said: “He has been really great company and I am sure you saw our advert and he was quite the actor.

“We took a few takes and he took considerably less.”

William launched his prize to find solutions to the planet’s environmental problems and overcome the pessimism felt by many on its future.

Judges include broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, actress Cate Blanchett and singer Shakira.

During the ceremony, in a short film recorded in the London Eye, William will say: “We are alive in the most consequential time in human history.

“The actions we choose or choose not to take in the next 10 years will determine the fate of the planet for the next thousand.

“A decade doesn’t seem long, but humankind has an outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable.

“Many of the answers are already out there… but we need everyone – from all parts of society – to raise their ambition and unite in repairing our planet.

“The future is ours to determine. And if we set our minds to it, nothing is impossible.”

Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and KSI will perform during the ceremony, which will be shown on BBC One, and actors Watson, Dame Emma and David Oyelowo, and Liverpool FC striker Mo Salah, will hand out the awards.

The ceremony comes ahead of the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow in a few weeks, which the Queen, the Cambridges and the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will attend.

Speaking ahead of the Earthshot ceremony, Charles said: “I am very proud of my son William for his growing commitment to the environment and the bold ambition of the Earthshot Prize.”

The prize takes its inspiration from the Apollo moon landings, nicknamed Moonshot, which helped advance mankind’s technological achievements.

It features five categories, or Earthshots – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate – which, if achieved by 2030, would improve life for all, organisers say.

Every year from 2021 until the end of the decade, winners of the five Earthshots will each receive £1 million to develop their projects.

The inaugural 15 finalists include a 14-year-old girl from India who has designed a solar-powered ironing cart, the government of Costa Rica, which has pioneered a project paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems, and a Chinese app that allows its citizens to hold polluters to account.