The moonshot that inspired William’s £5m green prizes

THE Prince of Wales was hoping for one giant leap of his own yesterday as he paid tribute to the Moonshot programme that inspired his own Earthshot Prize.

Ahead of a star-studded gala for his prestigious £5million climate change awards, William met the US President and members of the Kennedy family on his first solo trip in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile Kate was greeted by wellwishers as she took her early years project Stateside on a visit to Harvard University.

Royal aides discovered only in recent days that Joe Biden, by chance, was in Boston at the same time as the royal couple.

Officials were delighted when the White House said he would like to make time to meet the prince in person. As William already had an engagement at the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum with Caroline Kennedy – JFK’s only surviving child – President Biden even offered to come to him.

Miss Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, was joined by her children, Jack and Tatiana Schlossberg, for the visit.

William took a short tour around the library and museum, which highlights JFK’s political legacy and his Moonshot programme that challenged America to put man on the moon. William has said the project, which helped launch the Moon landing in 1969, is the key inspiration behind his Earthshot Prize.

During the visit, the prince was shown exhibits from the pivotal years of the Kennedy Administration in the 1960 including a facsimile of JFK’s famous ‘We choose to go to the Moon’ speech in Houston in 1962.

Meanwhile the princess spent half an hour with experts from the Centre on the Developing Child, which has been working with her own Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

Kate told them she had a lot to learn, adding: ‘There is so much amazing work going on and we need to start sharing the learning and science... to help children in the trajectory into adult life. It is frustrating because I’d like to be here for days.’

During an impromptu walkabout outside, she greeted hundreds of wellwishers – including one who had spent $1,000 on flights and hotels to see the royal couple. Allison Morgan, 37, who travelled from Williamsburg in Virginia, sad: ‘It was worth every cent. I’m a huge fan of the royals. My mum was a fan of Diana and my grandmother a fan of the Queen. It is a family tradition.’

The second Earthshot Awards ceremony at the MGM Music Hall in Boston last night saw William and Kate join activists, innovators and performers – including Billie Eilish and Annie Lennox – to celebrate 15 global finalists.

Five winners were awarded £1million in prize money each. The ten-year project will ensure that, by 2030, 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems will have been developed.