Standing in the brilliant sunshine before the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Prince of Wales stopped in the same spot his mother had decades earlier.
Back then, it was 1991 and Princess Diana was on a six-day visit to Brazil with her husband, Prince Charles, with stops in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and São Paulo.
Prince William and his brother Harry, then aged eight and six, were back in the UK at school.
The following year, Charles and Diana separated and in 1996 they formalised their divorce.
During the 1991 trip, Diana was photographed smiling in a white patterned blouse, white skirt and green belt as she posed by the statue.
Another image from the visit shows her smiling in front of the 30 metre-tall art deco statue of Jesus Christ on Corcovado mountain in Tijuca National Park, one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
More than 34 years later, William went to the same spot, and to the lookout point, with a conscious plan to recreate the picture. First, he took a moment to look at the clouds below and the view of Sugarloaf Mountain in the background. For a moment at least, he was deep in thought and the prince, clearly emotional, then turned back to face the cameras.
Charles and Diana at a visit to an iron ore mine in the Carajas mountains of northern Brazil during their visit
THE SUN
A palace spokesman said that since arriving in Brazil on Monday for a five-day visit, his first to the country, William had often been reminded of his mother by members of the public.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson, talking to the travelling media pack, 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 monument, which was completed in 1931, is known as one of the seven new wonders of the world.
“Amazing,” said William as he walked back towards the statue before it was opened to the public. “It’s a feat of engineering”.
Diana’s visit to the statue was part of a packed schedule that saw her and Charles separate for different engagements.
She joined Charles for diplomatic moments, including a banquet, while her solo engagements focused more on her humanitarian work.
A headline in The Sun said “Brazil nuts” as the country erupted in support of the princess who was seen wearing a tiara at an evening reception.
A minor security incident was sparked when a man cried “Diana Diana” before springing 40 metres down a red carpet in an attempt to kiss the princess.
She visited an orphanage in São Paulo and hospitals across the country where she met people suffering from cancer and HIV.
The following year, 1992, Diana and Charles travelled to India but the strain on their marriage was already visible.
In Agra, a picture of Diana sitting alone in front of the Taj Mahal, a monument of love, became symbolic of the gulf between the couple as Charles chose to attend a meeting with business leaders instead.
On Wednesday evening, William hosted the fifth and most high-profile awards ceremony yet for his environmental Earthshot Prize, where five winners were awarded £1 million each to scale up their entrepreneurial planet-saving innovations.
With performances from Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes and with Sir Keir Starmer in the audience, William gave a speech in which he praised the “dreamers” of tomorrow.
He said: “We can support the dreamers and innovators who work tirelessly to build a more sustainable world. We can protect our beautiful planet for all life that calls it home.”
To his own little dreamers, his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, he had other words of advice.
During a “fireside chat” on stage earlier in the day, William, 43, told Christiane Amanpour, a CNN anchor, that “leadership” required “a vision that there’s good things to come and it’s not all negative”.
He said: “For my children, particularly, knowing that the planet’s going to be in a better, healthier state because of the people in this room is something I love to tell them when they go to bed — it’s going to be great, your future is going to be as bright as futures gone by and that’s a really important message for all of us to hear.”
• Prince William urges end to deadly environmental crime in Brazil
Amanpour also asked about William’s recent references to making “changes” to the monarchy; a loaded question, particularly in the aftermath of his uncle Andrew being stripped of his titles of Prince and Duke of York.
Amanpour said there had been “a lot of change in your own family — where do you see the change, what do you think needs to happen?”
Dodging the question, William said: “I think the Earthshot Prize is a classic example of change; rather than talking about it, we’re doing it. Change will come by backing them, not by what I do. It’s really important that the next generation believe that change is coming.”
Change will come on Thursday, when William follows in his father’s footsteps by travelling to Belem to make the keynote speech at the Cop30 climate conference.
During William’s parents’ 1991 visit to Brazil, Prince Charles hosted an informal environmental seminar aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia near the Brazilian port city of Belem.
The so-called “Belem conference” was intended as a “brainstorming session” to discuss environmental conservation in advance of a United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Much like the style in which William emulates his mother, however, he is expected to deliver the speech in his own way.
Prince Harry’s office issued a press release just as William’s Earthshot Prize ceremony began, saying that the Duke of Sussex had spent time with members of Canada’s reserve forces during a visit to Toronto.
At the ceremony, Kylie Minogue, 57, and Shawn Mendes, 27, met Prince William on the green carpet, a change to the usual red carpet to note the environmental aspect of the awards.
Kylie Minogue with Prince William and Shawn Mendes
CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES
Before meeting the heir to the throne, Minogue, who was wearing a dress by designer Stella McCartney, praised the Earthshot awards as “amazing people doing incredible things”.
Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband also attended the ceremony, as did Sadiq Khan, below
CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES
CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES
Meanwhile, Harry met soldiers attached to regiments with royal ties, including the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, of which his stepmother Camilla is colonel-in-chief. Camilla wore the regimental brooch when she accompanied Charles to the opening of Parliament in Ottawa earlier this year. Harry also spoke to troops from the Royal Regiment of Canada, which has the King as Colonel in Chief, a role he has held since 1977.
A spokesman for Harry said that he had informed the palace of his visit to Canada “as a courtesy”.
Meanwhile, The Sun reported that Meghan would return to Hollywood with a role in a new film in which she would “play herself”.