Prince William and Kate Middleton Set to Visit Boston in December For The Earthshot Prize

Update: At the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, it was announced the second awards ceremony will take place in Boston on December 2, 2022. Prince William also confirmed he will be attending, along with Kate, Princess of Wales.

In October 2021, Prince William and Kate Middleton walked the “green carpet” in London at the first ever awards for the Earthshot environmental prize. And this year, the ceremony is heading to the U.S., with Boston being announced today as the host city for Earthshot 2022.

Kensington Palace announced the news on social media with a short video featuring William outlining plans to bring the prize in Boston. The Palace has not confirmed any travel plans for the Duke and Duchess yet, but T&C understands that they will both be traveling to the U.S. and are both expected to attend the ceremony. Held in early December, the event will award five £1 million prizes to solutions for the challenges facing the planet across five categories or “Earthshots.” They are: Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation will serve as host partner for the event alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who said today that the city was “honored and excited” to host the awards. “In Boston, we’re not just aiming to improve Boston’s ability to tackle climate change—we’re setting an example for how imaginative, community-driven climate leadership can reshape what’s possible,” she said.

When Prince William launched the decade-long Earthshot Prize in October 2020 he spoke of harnessing “urgency” and “optimism” to find solutions for the environment. “I felt very much that there’s a lot of people wanting to do many good things for the environment and what they need is a bit of a catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity that we can actually fix what’s being presented,” the Prince said in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

This will be William and Kate's first trip to the U.S. since December 2014 when they traveled to New York for events including a fundraising gala at the city's Metropolitan Museum of Art. They previously visited California in 2011 at the end of a tour of Canada where they were guests of honor at Hollywood BAFTA gala. An upcoming trip to the U.S. by the Cambridges will inevitably spark discussion about the couple's relationship with Harry and Meghan, who moved to California in 2020 after stepping back as working royals.

The Earthshot Prize will see five £1 million prizes awarded each year from 2021 to 2030, aiming to find 50 solutions to the world’s challenges. Kensington Palace described how the winners could be “a wide range of individuals, teams or collaborations—scientists, activists, economists, community projects, leaders, governments, banks, businesses, cities, and countries.” The ambitious Prize was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ challenge to land a man on the moon.

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