Before the Prince of Wales took to the stage in Monaco, his closest advisers had billed his impassioned address as “a landmark speech”.
It appeared to have everything: a call to action, a little personal reflection and just the right amount of oomph.
Usually there would be some humour in his speech, but on this occasion that wasn’t required.
• Prince William urges leaders to ‘act now’ on ocean pollution
Taking to the stage before President Macron, William’s message was a chance for him to reinforce his message of “urgent optimism”, a recurring theme in his work as he seeks to avoid pessimistic hand-wringing in the climate change debate.
For his aides, the address was “punchy”. Not merely a chance to save the planet but an important step towards reinforcing Prince William as a global statesman. And for global statesman, read king-in-waiting.
He certainly looks the part.
It is one of a handful of high-profile events in the past six months in which William has played a significant role on the world stage.
He attended the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican alongside world leaders including Sir Keir Starmer, President Trump, Macron and President Zelensky.
In December, William became the first senior British representative to meet Trump after his election victory when the two met in Paris at the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral.
Trump, who has since been invited back to the UK for a state visit by the King, described William as “a good man” and “very handsome”.
The Palace will be hoping that Trump’s view, at least in terms of his character rather than his appearance (although they’re not going to quibble), is one that is widely held both at home and abroad.
In many ways, the project is nothing new. It is a decades-long mission to promote the prince as a sign of the future of the monarchy.
William is the most popular member of the royal family
ANDREW PARSONS/KENSINGTON PALACE
According to the latest YouGov polls, William is the most popular member of the royal family, acceding to the top spot that was occupied for decades by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
A source who has known William for decades said that a common problem among senior members of the royal family, and one with which William is familiar, was that they were “often the only person in the room who is there by virtue of their birth rather than having earned the right to be there”.
With this in mind, the source added, William had worked to ensure that he can hold his own.
In his speech in Monaco, he spoke as “the founder of the Earthshot prize”. William is halfway through a decade of change he hopes the environmental awards will bring.
Kensington Palace recently announced that the award ceremony would be hosted by Brazil this year, although was reticent about confirming the prince’s attendance.
When a local journalist shouted a question to the prince as he arrived in Monaco about whether he was looking forward to Brazil, he was more than happy to confirm.
The country is also hosting the Cop30 summit this year and it seems likely that William could combine a visit along with his Earthshot duties.
The King has often said that he has been “banging on” about the environment for decades. William now sees a chance to combine his profile with his message to amplify it to great effect.
In Monaco he was heard telling former Earthshot prize delegates that he was going to improve the “comms” to make their entrepreneurial work more “visible”.
After all, messaging will be key if he wants to maintain his top spot on the world stage.