Prince William Says He Can ‘Be Myself’ and ‘Get Away’ from Normal Life When in Africa

Prince William and his celebrity guests are walking the longest green carpet ever as they arrive at his prestigious annual Earthshot Prize Awards.

The Prince of Wales, 42, was the guest of honor at the awards night in Cape Town, South Africa on Nov. 6. It was the focal point of his four days in South Africa, which began on Monday, Nov. 4 and conclude on Thursday, Nov. 7.

“I’m feeling good. I can’t quite believe we’re here, fourth year, in Africa,” Prince William said on the green carpet. “But I’m really pleased because I’ve been looking forward to an Africa Earthshot for a long time. I love the continent, and I’m so pleased we’ve managed to get here to Africa.”

“Africa’s been a big part of my life since I’ve been a young boy, since I first came to Africa,” he continued. “I felt really connected to the place spiritually and kind of from an environmental and people point. And every time I come here I get a warm welcome. Every time I come here I can be myself and get away from all the stuff that happens in my normal life. And so it’s a really special place, a home from home for me.”

On the green carpet, Prince William wore a vintage blazer sourced from a local vintage store in London and sustainable sneakers that are zero-plastic and biodegradable. He teased the sneakers earlier in the day during a visit to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. While speaking to Earthshot Prize finalist Mary Allen from Natural Fiber Welding, which makes plastic-free materials for use in shoes, bags and textiles, Prince William told her that he owned a pair of the company’s Purified sneakers, made from plant-based materials.

“He said he’s got a pair!” Allen tells PEOPLE.

The Earthshot Prize Awards are in its fourth year, following ceremonies in London in 2021, Boston in 2022 and Singapore in 2023. The Earthshot Prize Awards have been described by his aides as Prince William’s “Superbowl moment,” a night to reward and project five new ideas that will help tackle the problems the planet is facing.

He was joined on what organizers say is the longest ever green carpet, which measures 121 feet long, by Robert Irwin, who the prince also met up with yesterday for a hike on Signal Hill, part of South Africa’s Table Mountain National Park. William will also meet up on the green carpet with the two co-hosts of the evening’s awards, multi-award winning singer and actor Billy Porter and Bonang Matheba. He’ll also be joined by Nomzamo Mbatha, Earthshot Prize ambassador and host of the special week of events that have taken place in Cape Town.

On the green carpet, Irwin tells PEOPLE, “I’m just loving it,” and adds that “Cape Town has my heart. I love this place so much.”

Of his Nov. 5 walk on Signal Hill with Prince William. “It’s awesome to be up on Signal Hill. What a spot. I felt really, really honored to have a great chat with Prince William about the future of Earthshot Prize. You can instantly tell when you talk to him he’s got such a focus about making the next generation enthusiastic about making change, which is so important.”

Irwin is an Earthshot Prize ambassador and was involved in last year’s Earthshot Prize Awards in Singapore. “The Earthshot Prize was always about being a marathon,” he tells PEOPLE. “It is a 10-year initiative and it’s going to take a huge global movement to combat the big issues that we see today. And that’s exactly what Earthshot is. It has become truly global and it seems to snowball. Every year it’s bigger, and there are so many people coming on board from all different walks of life.”

“The awesome thing I’ve noticed this year in particular is focusing on the next generation. I feel very inspired, and I know all of the youth I’ve been talking to, they all go, ‘Wow, okay, we’re being valued and appreciated. Our voices are being heard.’ So it’s really special.”

Irwin, 20, is half William’s age — exactly the age of those young people being targeted. “He is the coolest guy. He is such a down to earth, passionate about conservation. We definitely get on very well, so on the same track for sure,” Irwin tells PEOPLE.

The show will also feature appearances by Heidi Klum, Nina Dobrev and Winnie Harlow, and the five winners chosen from the group of 15 finalists will receive $1.3 million each to help them build and market their groundbreaking ideas. The finalists were announced by William in September.

On the green carpet, Klum, wearing vintage Halston, marveled about the microphone made out of seaweed and spoke about the importance of rewearing clothes. “I’m passing clothes down to my kids,” the supermodel said.

“It’s so beautiful when I see my daughter wearing, I have two daughters, wearing my clothes. I think it’s so important also to keep wearing your things. I think in the past, we’d wear something once and then we’d never wear it again, and it’s so wrong to do,” Klum added. “I urge everyone to wear your amazing things that you have in the closet. It’s the best shop, your own closet.”

She continued, “It’s so amazing that Prince William, what he is doing with the Earthshot Prize. It’s so, so important, and these amazing people, to shine a light on them and their amazing work. It literally, when I saw some of the videos, it brings me to tears how incredible these people are and what they do to try and make our tomorrow better.”

Klum tells PEOPLE of Earthshot, “I go to a lot of events, but this is probably one of the most important events I’ve been to. I have to be honest, I hadn’t heard of it before. It is amazing what he [Prince William] has done. I have not met him yet. I didn’t know I was on his radar, and so when his team called and asked if I could come, I said, immediately, yes.”

“When I delved in deeper I learned so many new things,” she continued. “Who knew there was sustainable fishing? Tomorrow I’m so honored to go with him to this place to learn about sustainable fishing. I knew our waters are overfished and they’re polluted and all of these horrible things. But I didn’t know about sustainable fishing. I love that I get to learn more things and hopefully be better in the future. Also, I love doing my part. We should all do our part.”

Klum said her children are proud of her taking part in the Earthshot Prize Awards: “It’s more their future,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m already at the tipping point on the downhill. I’m 51, right! But you can’t think like that — we have to think about our future and what is to come. I have four kids, and hopefully I will be a grandmother one day, and what about my grandkids? We have to think about our tomorrow.”

She adds, “When I was a kid, you knew already it was starting, and for people to say there is no climate change. I mean open your eyes around you — it’s happening everywhere. There are so many places that I’ve visited where they’re complaining about these things and flooding and everything going on. Everyone needs to open their eyes, and being here, my eyes are even more open.”

“It’s always good to learn more things. These people here that are being nominated — they found solutions. That’s the great part. If we would all be like, ‘What are we going to do, there are no solutions?’ We’d really be in the s—. But there are people who are coming up with solutions, and bravo to him and the organization for giving funding so they can continue their amazing work with their amazing brains that they have. They’re real inventors,” Klum said.

Harlow, wearing a vegan leather dress, tells PEOPLE of her experience in Cape Town, “It’s been amazing. I’ve got to experience South Africa for the first time. I was also honored to be asked to be involved in Earthshot, for us to shine a light on the things that affect everyone. Nature is something that needs to be protected [and] is the responsibility of us all.”

“It’s beautiful. It’s really important when you are in a position of being seen by a lot of people to allow those eyes to be directed something that’s really important, especially when it comes to the Earth, climate change and pollution of water — all the things that really affect everyone around the world,” she adds.

On the green carpet, co-host Porter said, “The world needs people to stand up for each other, stand up for the planet, stand up for love, stand up for hope, all of those things that sort of seem to be diminishing. Our Earth’s resources are going away and it’s so great to be a part of the solution. I feel like today, with The Earthshot Prize and everything that Earthshot does, it’s being part of the solution and it makes me really hopeful.”

Porter tells PEOPLE while on the green carpet of attending the Earthshot Prize Awards that, while he frequently attends events like the Met Gala, Earthshot “is about something. Not that those aren’t. But this is about something that’s important for everybody. Nobody survives if the planet doesn’t.”

He added, “The Earth’s resources are going away. And these are people who are dedicated and committed to fixing that and helping to preserve the resources for all of us.”

As he prepared to meet Prince William on the green carpet, Porter said, “Somebody has to do something. And he’s doing something. He has stepped up to do something and make a change and make a difference and we’re all grateful.”

Winners at the Earthshot Prize Awards were chosen in each of Earthshot’s five categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate.

Dobrev said on the green carpet that she was particularly interested in the work Earthshot does around its Saving Our Oceans category: “It started off as a fear of sharks initially,” she said. “Any kid loves being in the ocean. My parents could not pry me out of the water. As I got older, I developed this fear of sharks. I went on a shark dive, I started to realize that not only were they not dangerous, but they weren’t interested in me. I tried to swim towards them and they kept swimming away from me.”

“I just have a respect for them, and I feel like they’re these gentle giants that have a lot of bad press in the media about them,” she continued. “And they don’t have a voice to defend themselves, so I’ve kind of taken it upon myself to be that voice. In that journey, I learned so much about the dangers of microplastics, both in the ocean but also for us because we eat the fish and they get in our bodies and we’re basically eating bottles of water.”

“There’s just so many things, I could talk on and on about it,” she concluded, adding, “Every single person can make a huge difference. It takes the collective.”

Dobrev, wearing Carly Cushnie, said that she “really wanted to support a Black designer, and she makes impeccable dresses for women.” She added that she “was incredibly excited to get the invitation to give out a prize at the awards. It’s a great cause. It’s incredible we get to highlight all these incredible, groundbreaking innovators in all the things they’re doing.”

“They’re all so unique and they’re so different and they’re all touching the world in helping in their own unique way. But we need all of them. We’re going to give out five awards, but all of the finalists are going to get mentorship and support from the organization. We need this now more than ever. The world is in dire need.”

Of her recent engagement to Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, Dobrev added that the last few days since the announcement have been “magical.”

The show will kick off with a performance from the iconic Table Mountain. Lebo M. unveiled a pre-recorded version of “Circle of Life” from The Lion King, the first time a performance of this nature has been recorded at the site above Cape Town.

The ceremony will be shown live across Africa on Multi-Choice for the first time, as well as broadcast live on the Earthshot Prize’s YouTube channel and on BBC iPlayer in the U.K.

After Prince William leaves the green carpet, he and 2,000 other guests will take their seats in the specially-built, reusable Earthshot Prize Dome. The structure is the largest events space of its kind in Africa and has been used many times before.

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Earlier in the day on Nov. 6, William met this year’s cohort of 15 finalists after he took a walk in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in the foothills of the magnificent Table Mountain. He spoke about their innovations and the discussions they’ve had during the week to help them promote and build their burgeoning ideas.

William traveled solo to Cape Town, as wife Princess Kate is still not fully returned to public work since she was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. In September, she announced she had finished her chemotherapy, but added, “My path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”