The Prince of Wales, 43, made his first official stop of his trip to Brazil on Monday, Nov. 3, where he was feted at Sugarloaf Mountain and received a unique honor.
High above Rio de Janeiro’s coastline, he was given the keys to the city by Mayor Eduardo Paes — an honor usually reserved for the kings and queens of the famous carnival.
Prince William was greeted by cheers from waiting onlookers as he stepped off the cable car at around 11:55 a.m. local time. He spent the next 10 minutes being shown some of the sights of the city by Mayor Paes, including the Christ the Redeemer statue that William will visit later in the trip.
Standing at the center of the helicopter landing pad, he was given the keys to the city. He then met some of the gathered tourists, who’d been surprised by his presence at the top of the cable car station.
“This is a really special thing for the mayor to do, and the backdrop at the top of Sugarloaf is truly breathtaking!” a Kensington Palace spokesman said.
Prince William’s outing is his first since his uncle, the former Prince Andrew, was stripped of his royal titles last week. Buckingham Palace announced on Oct. 30 that King Charles had “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.”
PEOPLE understands that the King’s decision came with the support of the wider royal family, including Prince William. A source told PEOPLE, “There was pressure from William, who would not want to inherit the headache. It was a family decision.”
The royal, who arrived in Brazil earlier in the day on Monday, is in Rio to host his fifth Earthshot Prize evening on Nov. 5, which rewards innovators from around the world for the ideas they have for countering some of the planet’s pressing environmental challenges.
But before then, he is undertaking a series of outings to highlight the environmental conservation work being done around the city. As well as being on Sugarloaf, he will visit other iconic sites and the magnificent beaches as well as sample some of the sports that Brazil is world famous for. He’ll also champion the work being done to preserve the outstanding and unique nature. Brazil is the most biodiverse country on the planet and holds half of the Amazon rainforest, making it a perfect place to highlight the ideas of entrepreneurs and conservationists who are working to counter some of the environmental challenges.
As the prince arrived and headed through the airport and into the city, he would have seen how Rio has embraced the awards and the buzz leading up to it: It is “brimming with anticipation” for the event, CEO of the Earthshot Prize Jason Knauf said. “This is especially true for the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, who has been the most fantastic partner all year.”
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“With its energy, its people and its iconic landscapes, it is the perfect place to celebrate amazing environmental innovation and host our biggest and best Earthshot ever,” Knauf added.
When Prince William announced the finalists of this year’s awards on Oct. 4, he said in a video, “I sat under this oak tree five years ago, soon after we launched the Earthshot Prize. The planet, the only home we have, needed our help, as scientists made it clear that we had to make significant changes by 2030.”
He talked about his children and how he had looked ahead to Earthshot’s 10-year mission. “Back then, a decade felt like a long time. George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away. But today, as we stand halfway through this critical decade, 2030 feels very real.”
“The Earthshot Prize was founded because this decade matters,” he added. “2030 is a threshold by which future generations will judge us; it is the point at which our actions, or lack of them, will have shaped forever the trajectory of our planet.”
On Thursday Nov. 6, he heads to the UN climate conference in Belém, Brazil.
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