William meets young conservationists on Table Mountain viewpoint visit

The Prince of Wales took in the views of Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain when he hiked partway up a vantage point.

William strode up Signal Hill and met rangers and volunteer conservationists as he learned about the rare and endangered plants that are part of the area’s biodiversity.

The hilltop gives panoramic views of Cape Town, with Table Mountain as a dramatic backdrop, and the prince posed for a picture at a spot set up for tourists to perfectly compose their images.

The future king began a four-day visit to Cape Town on Monday and is taking part in a series of events shining a light on young African climate activists, the fight against the illegal wildlife trade, and promoting his Earthshot Prize awards ceremony.

Dubbed the prince’s “Super Bowl” moment, the prize-giving event on Wednesday will recognise environmental solutions to “repair” the planet, with five category winners each receiving £1 million to “scale up” their plans.

William posed at the look-out spot with the young conservationists, Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of the City of Cape Town, and Robert Irwin, son of the late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin and an Earthshot Prize Global Ambassador.

Signal Hill is part of the wider Table Mountain National Park, one of a number of areas making up the Cape Flora Region which was declared a world heritage site by Unesco in 2004.

Later, William changed from the sustainable causal outfit he wore for the walk up Signal Hill, a shirt by EcoAlf and jacket by Rapanui, to a suit, shirt and tie for his meeting with South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The two men met at the entrance of Mr Ramaphosa’s official residence in Cape Town, but when they posed for pictures on steps leading to the garden, they were asked by the press to greet each other again and the president joked “another handshake” and shook hands with his guest.

Also at the meeting was Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in the country for a meeting with his South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola.