Prince Williamleft BBC Radio 2 listeners in stitches this morning – after he sent Scott Mills an unexpected voice note on air.
The Prince of Wales, 43, is reportedly a huge fan, having previously given a rare candid interview to the presenter who took over from Zoe Ballin January earlier this year.
And on Tuesday, those tuning into his breakfast show, along with guestRobert Irwin, 21, got to hear a heartwarmingly hilarious royal address.
The sonof conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin laughed up a storm as he reacted to the future King’s message ahead of this year’s Earthshot Prize in November.
The audio cameas a surprise to Scott, who had been in the middle of a segment with Robert – a Global ambassador of William’s charity.
In it, the royal invited Scott along to attend the awards ceremony, taking place in Rio, Brazil, later this year.
During the episode, Scott enlisted Robert to as a ‘resident wildlife expert’, encouraging questions from the audience via voice note.
After answering the listener queries – including those about how many teeth tigers have, and how many elephants there are in the world – Scott told Robert that there was one final message to hear.
Prince William left BBC Radio 2 listeners shocked this morning after he sent a unexpected voice note to its Breakfast Show host, Scott Mills. Pictured revealing the location of the upcoming Earthshot Prize
On Tuesday morning, he left Mills and his guest, Robert Irwin , son of conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, in stitches after sending a cheeky voice note ahead of Earthshot Prize in November. Pictured with The Princess of Wales in April 2025
‘Good morning, Scott, or should I say G’day, Scott?’ the Prince greeted. ‘I know you’ve got the fantastic Robert Irwin on the show this morning, brilliant ambassador for the Earthshot Prize.
‘Sorry, I can’t be with you both this morning, hoping to catch up with you soon. You’re very much invited to the Earthshot Prize in Rio in Brazil in November. It’s going to be a fantastic event, great show.’
He then cheekily quipped however that ‘Robert likes to pull random terrifying animals and creatures out of his pockets while he’s on anyone’s show and talking to them’.
‘So just watch your back at all times that a tarantula or something doesn’t suddenly pop onto your desk,’ he joked. ‘But listen, have a good show, and hope to catch up on you both very soon. Goodbye.’
Robert was in fits of giggles by the end of the message.
In April, the future heir to the throne announced the news that Brazil would be host to the next Earthshot Prize in November, the same month the country hosts the COP30 UN climate change conference.
The ceremony will be held in the country’s capital ofRio de Janeiro, and will award £1 million to five winners, each offering solutions to some of the world’s biggest climate crises.
The prize was founded in 2020 and has awarded winners in cities across the world, including London, Boston, Singapore and Cape Town, its aim to progress environmental efforts to conquer climate change issues.
In the surprise audio message, William invited the radio host to join him in attending the annual Earthshot Prize, which will take place attend the awards ceremony in in Rio in Brazil in November. Robert Irwin, pictured left, and Scott Mills, right
After answering the listener queries, such as how many teeth tigers have, and how many elephants there are in the world, he told Irwin there will be one final message to hear. Prince William pictured with Robert Irwin
During the episode, Scott declared his guest, Irwin, would act as ‘our resident wildlife expert’ on the morning show, and encouraged listeners to send in their nature questions via voice note
The Princess of Wales joined her husband at two of the events, the one in the British capital and the ceremony held in the States
In the announcement, the Prince said: ‘2025 marks the midway point of the Earthshot decade and each year we’ve witnessed the remarkable power of human ingenuity in addressing our planet’s most pressing challenges.’
‘It is an honour to profile the people making our world a better place for us and for our children,’ he added.
‘I’m pleased to announce we’re going to be in Brazil in 2025,’ William said in a video to accompany the announcement on Friday.
‘We need urgent optimism now more than ever, and I think Brazil epitomises that, and I can’t believe we are at the half way point of 10 years.’
Among the famous faces who also featured in the Earthshot video were actress Cate Blanchett, model Heidi Klum, Brazil’s most capped football and World Cup winner Cafu, and former England football captain David Beckham.
‘I’m so, so excited … (Brazil) – where nature and culture go hand in hand,’ David said during the clip.
William is the driving force behind the annual environmental competition and has attended all the presentation events since launching the initiative.
Cape Town staged the most recent awards ceremony last November after prize-giving events were held in Singapore in 2023, Boston in 2022 and London’s Alexandra Palace in 2021.
The Princess of Wales joined her husband at two of the events, the one in the British capital and the ceremony held in the States.
It is not currently clear whether she will attend this year’s awards.
Prince William founded the prize to recognise and scale-up ideas to help ‘repair’ the planet, with the five winning finalists each awarded £1 million to further develop their ideas.
Awards are presented in five categories, or Earthshots – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.
Prince William is known to be a fans ofMill’s former feat, the BBC Radio One show, of which he was a host for 24 years.
In 2017, he and the Princess of Wales shared an unprecedented glimpse into their private lives in a candid radio interview with Scott Millsto promote a mental health campaign.
