During his recent trip to Cape Town, the Prince of Wales for the Earthshot Awards summit found a meaningful gift for his wife, the Princess of Wales, while engaging in one of his favourite topics: seaweed.

Prince William, 42, selected a unique pair of earrings crafted from beach-cast kelp with sterling silver fittings that is made by the Observatory-based company in Cape Town SeaTree Emporium and retails for R350.

The small diamond earrings were crafted from beach-cast kelp with sterling silver fittings that Prince William bought for his wife. Picture: Seaweed South Africa.

The designers let the kelp guide them in the production process, keeping as much of the natural shape of the kelp intact.

At the event, which was held at Portside Tower, overlooking Cape Town harbour, the Prince met with pioneering local seaweed entrepreneurs during a coalition roundtable.

He was warmly greeted by Earthshot CEO Hannah Jones and Vincent Doumeizel, founder of the Global Seaweed Coalition, who is also a Senior Advisor at the UN Global Compact for Oceans and the author of “The Seaweed Revolution”.

Dressed in a blue blazer sourced from a vintage store in London, the Prince engaged enthusiastically with each stand, sampling products and chatting with innovators.

While browsing, he encountered the French children’s book “Comment les algues peuvent sauver le monde” (“How Seaweed Can Save the World”) and remarked, “That’ll sort out my children’s French.”

Stopping by the Seaweed Café, William was curious about seaweed jelly, asking co-founder Nancy Iraba about it and testing soaps by Macroalgae-based skincare brand, Mwani.

At the event, he was also reunited with Pierre Paslier, co-founder of Notpla, a company creating seaweed-based packaging. Praising Paslier, he said, “I was bigging you up last night” and expressed how “proud” he was.

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