Prince William has touched hearts by replicating a photograph taken by his late mother, Princess Diana, 34 years ago at the renowned Christ the Redeemer statue towering over Rio de Janeiro. The poignant moment unfolded this morning, capturing a sense of legacy and reflection.

On the third day of his visit to Brazil, the 43-year-old Prince of Wales paused for a moment of contemplation at the very location his mother stood in 1991, during her six-day tour of the country alongside then-Prince Charles.

Under the clear and sunny skies, William retraced Diana’s steps as he ascended Corcovado Mountain in Rio to admire the magnificent 98-foot-tall monument.

The statue, completed in 1931, was the brainchild of Heitor da Silva Costa and sculpted by Paul Landowski. Depicting Jesus Christ with arms wide open, this global symbol is celebrated as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

During his 45-minute private visit to the summit, which was closed to the public, William gazed over the breathtaking Guanabara Bay before recreating his mother’s iconic photograph.

Like Diana, William also stood in front of the Art Deco masterpiece, expressing admiration for the statue, which he described as a “feat of engineering.”

On arrival, William was taken to the chapel at the base of the statue by Padre Omar Raposo, The Guardian of The Sanctuary, Christ The Redeemer.

Ahead of the fifth instalment of William’s Earthshot Prize awards tonight, William also met the 15 finalists hopeful of landing five £1million prizes to upscale their planet-saving ideas.

The Prince spoke to them about their experience of the Earthshot Prize Finalist Programme, the project running alongside the Prize to support each of the finalists for a year in their bid to market their innovations.

He was escorted by Rio’s Mayor, Eduardo Paes, and met with the deputy major, Eduardo Cavaliere, and his wife who was carrying their two-month-old baby Maria Beatrice.

William cooed over her and asked her whether she was sleeping well. ‘That’s the key,’ he beamed.

He also told award finalists : ‘Don’t be too nervous!’

Father Omar then took William to visit the Chapel underneath the statue. 

Charles and Diana’s 1991 tour saw the couple visit the capital Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon-located city of Carajás in the state of Pará.

The former Prince of Wales focused on environmental issues, including a day-long seminar on conservation aboard the royal yacht Britannia near the mouth of the Amazon River, co-hosted with Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello.

In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Princess Diana made headlines for holding hands and cuddling children with HIV/AIDS without hesitation, a significant gesture at a time of widespread stigma and misunderstanding about the disease.

Diana’s work on humanitarian causes was given extra focus with visits to hospitals and centres for abandoned children across the tour, many of whom were HIV positive or suffering from AIDS.

Newspaper reports at the time highlighted the couple’s increasing strain. While they appeared together at official events, they pursued separate agendas, with a notable distance between them.

The prince spent time with British finalist Adam Root, founder and CEO of Matter, whose invention removes microplastics from water pumped out by washing machines and industrial units, preventing them from reaching the ocean.

William told him he was planning on installing his innovative filters to remove microplastics in the washing machines across the royal palaces.

‘An amazing idea,’ William said. ‘We’ll pay full price!’

‘We can definitely do that,’ Adam said.

Adam from Essex developed the filter at his mother-in-law’s dining table, supported by a £250 grant from The Prince’s Trust, now The King’s Trust, to begin building his invention.

The business started off by building filters for household washing machines, but has since raised more than £15m for its work and employs about 45 people.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson, speaking to the travelling British media contingency, said the Prince ‘has loved meeting so many people from across Rio over the last few days. He’s been incredibly struck by the number of people who fondly remember his mother’s visit to this beautiful city’.

The Christ the Redeemer statue was created by French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski. 

Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 98 foot high with a 26 ft pedestal. Its arms stretch a staggering 92 foot wide.

The statue is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone and weighs 635 metric tons.

Standing on top of the 2,300 ft Corcovado Mountain it has become a symbol of Christianity around the world, as well as a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.

William will tonight walk the green carpet at his Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in the city where the winners of five £1 million prizes will be announced.

The awards are designed to find and accelerate some of the most innovative solutions to the environmental challenges of our age.

All Earthshot Prize Finalists take part in a year-long Finalist Programme – a key part of the wrap-around support provided to each cohort of fifteen.

They receive mentorship, international visibility, pro-bono legal support, strategic digital and communications advice, and training designed to help accelerate progress and maximise impact. 

That support includes access to the Prize’s ambitious global network of businesses, philanthropists, investors and environmental organisations committed to climate action.

Last night, William warned of a ‘nature crisis’ facing the world as he delivered a speech at an anti-wildlife trade summit in Brazil. 

The landmark talk was given at the United for Wildlife Summit – thrown by the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Royal Foundation – in Rio on Tuesday night.  

William told the conference that Latin America ‘stands as a global leader in biodiversity and environmental conservation’ and will play a ‘crucial role in shaping the world’s response to nature loss at this decisive moment’.

It came hours after he was gifted an eye-catching scarf, made for him by an indigenous leader, as he met stars from his BBC Earth ‘Guardians’ programme, which aired earlier this year. 

During his speech, William said: ‘We all know that we face a nature crisis… with global biodiversity decreasing, climate change accelerating, and environmental crime fuelling ecological decline.

‘As we’ve heard this evening, environmental crime is now one of the most profitable and damaging forms of transnational crime.

‘In the past year alone, over 1.7 million hectares of the Amazon were cleared across this region… much of which is driven by illicit activity.

‘This crime fuels violence and corruption, distorts legitimate economies, and negatively impacts the livelihoods of millions.’ 

He added: ‘For Indigenous communities, these losses are not just environmental but existential. As forests are destroyed, so are their ancestral lands, sacred sites and even lives.’ 

William also announced a new partnership between his Royal Foundation and indigenous community leaders who, he said, ‘face deadly consequences’ for standing in the way of illicit activity providing an emergency support fund to help those in immediate danger find safety.

Latin America, he added, recorded 120 environmental protectors killed or who disappeared in 2024 – accounting for more than 80 per cent of all such cases worldwide.

‘These are people taking enormous risks to protect the land and the future we all depend on,’ he said.

‘We cannot manage our forests while their protectors live in fear. 

‘Because only by working together can we protect those protecting the future of our planet’s critical ecosystems.’ 

Prince William’s visit so far has delighted locals and has consisted of exciting engagements.  

The royal participated in a game of beach volleyball alongside Olympic star Carolina Solberg on Monday, as he soaked in the sun ahead of his Wednesday presentation of the Earthshot Prize.

The Prince and former Brazil defender Cafu played against each other in a three-a-side match testing the skills of schoolboys from across Rio during a visit to the iconic Maracanã Stadium – Brazil ‘s ‘temple of football’.