Prince William launches annual Earthshot Prize as Harry attends Invictus event amid ongoing row over Earl Spencer's Diana memoir

Prince William launched his annual Earthshot Prize this week, amid an ongoing row over his uncle Earl Spencer's bombshell Diana memoir. 

The heir to the throne unveiled this year's finalists on Friday for the environmental award, which recognises the contributions of winners towards repairing the planet. 

His brother Prince Harry meanwhile made his first public appearance since returning to the UK with Meghan at an Invictus event last night, ignoring questions about his uncle Earl Spencer's book but admitting that his first two weeks back in the UK have been 'eventful'. 

The brothers made public outings despite the ongoing fallout from their uncle Earl Spencer's incendiary book about his sister, Princess Diana, which sparked a war of words with King Charles. 

Among the shocking claims made in the explosive memoir, the Earl wrote that a furious Prince Charles told him days after Princess Diana's death, 'rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough'. 

He also alleged that Charles sounded 'elated - like a lottery winner' after the death of his ex-wife Diana, even claiming that Diana told the Earl that her royal husband was in love with his valet. 

William put on a brave face despite the drama, saying while unveiling the finalists for his environmental award that while the problems facing the world remained 'urgent', Earthshot gave him hope that there were enough 'extraordinary people' around the world proving that progress is possible.

The royal also starred in a new video with Bollywood legend Karan Johar, who will host this year's prize ceremony in Mumbai in November, that will be attended by William. 

Prince William launched his annual Earthshot Prize on Friday (pictured in June making a speech at the Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly in London)

Prince Harry pictured speaking at an Invictus Games event in Greenwich last night 

The front cover of Charles Spencer's book Swan Song, Diana: My Sister - a memoir which has sparked a war of words with the King 

The pair filmed it in London on Wednesday. In the video, the prince voiced his concern that the UK hadn't seen rainfall for almost four months, farmers were struggling and water supplies were stressed. 

But he added: 'Every year, our finalists give me renewed optimism. They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible. 

'Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act. When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change. 

'I'm proud to welcome these 15 Finalists to the Earthshot Prize community and look forward to celebrating their stories in Mumbai this November.' 

The Earthshot Prize is a decade-long global environmental award, which was launched by Prince William to identify, celebrate and back solutions to repair the planet. 

This year, as previously, 15 finalists spanning conservation, corporate, city, and country solutions from across the globe will compete for £1million in prize money in each of five categories: Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-Free World, Protect and Restore Nature and Clean our Air.

Prince William and Princess Kate pictured during a royal visit to the Isle of Bute on Thursday 

Harry laughs with his friend James Corden at the event in London

The money, as well as mentoring and coaching, will help them to develop and scale up their solutions. They include:

• 'Satellites on Fire', an Argentinian AI-powered wildfire detection and alert platform, spotting and tracking wildfires across 21 countries faster than NASA.
• Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, one of India's biggest three-wheeler manufacturers which has transformed its supply chain, and now sells more electric three-wheelers than anyone else in the country.
• The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan - once visited by William and his wife Catherine - which has demonstrated how a small nation's forests can safeguard water security across an entire region, embedding environmental protection into its constitution, public policy and national identity.

Five Winners will be announced at The Earthshot Prize Awards Night in Mumbai on November 17, a ceremony which the prince is expected to attend.

Jason Knauf, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, said: 'This year's finalists show that environmental leadership is coming from every corner of the globe, with a huge number of groundbreaking solutions being driven from the Global South.

'Each finalist is responding to a different pressing environmental issue, but all share the potential to create change far beyond their immediate impact. 

'By backing solutions that can contribute to a positive tipping point, where progress begins to accelerate and spread, The Earthshot Prize's mission is to turn environmental ambition into action at the scale our planet urgently needs.' 

The Earl, Diana and Charles at the Earl's 21st birthday party in 1985 at the Mirabelle restaurant in London

At a launch event in London, he added that Earthshot does not 'do politics'. 

He said the finalists proved that 'no-one is sitting around waiting for politicians to take this sort of action'. 

'We can't afford to be overly distracted by politics,' he added. 

This week has been one of drama for the Royal Family, as Earl Spencer's new book has sent shockwaves through the establishment. 

His incendiary claim that – days after Diana's death in a car crash – Prince Charles said: 'Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough,' triggered a war of words yesterday.

The earl's description of Charles's alleged outburst prompted an extraordinary statement from the Palace, with royal aides questioning the veracity of his account and suggesting that grief can 'cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory'.

The book's first astonishing extract made headlines around the world and is splitting society, with rival camps backing either side.

In the first extract, published online yesterday and in today's Daily Mail, the earl claims: 

• The late Queen dramatically offered to restore Princess Diana's royal title on the day of her funeral;
• Diana told her father she could not go through with the marriage to Prince Charles a month before the wedding – but he told her it was 'impossible to pull out';
• The day before the wedding Charles told Diana that while he was happy to marry her, he was not in love with her;
• Diana was so unhappy that she considered suicide and drove herself 'more than once' to Beachy Head cliffs in East Sussex;
• Charles sounded 'giddily elated – like a lottery winner' shortly after Diana's death.

Announcing the book last month, Earl Spencer said that, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana's death next year, he wanted to write down his own thoughts and memories 'rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others'.

Diana lost her HRH title after her divorce in August 1996 and was instead styled Diana, Princess of Wales.

Describing the Queen's offer, made just hours after he delivered his defiant eulogy at Diana's funeral, Earl Spencer writes: 'When we had gone some miles, Robert beckoned me to follow him into a quiet corner of the carriage.

'I have just received a call from Her Majesty …and she would like to offer Diana her HRH title back.' Mr Fellowes died in 2024.

The earl later wondered whether he was right to reject the offer, and that 'maybe Diana would have seen some point in having HRH carved on her tombstone'.

But he said he 'had no doubt that the consolation prize was hollow, however well-meaning the Queen's gesture', adding: 'The title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death.'

The memoir provides, for the first time, Earl Spencer's insight into his sister's deeply unhappy 15-year marriage and the then-Prince of Wales's love for her rival Camilla.

The Palace declined to comment on the earl's further claims last night. 

Prince Harry also made a public appearance amid the ongoing row - his first since returning to the UK with Meghan and their children. 

The Duke of Sussex was all smiles as he attended the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards at the historic Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich last night, but he looked serious when a reporter shouted on the red carpet: 'Harry, Harry, how are you feeling about your uncle's book?' 

The duke, whose wife Meghan was absent, stared straight ahead despite appearing to hear the question, placing his arms on the shoulders of two veterans. 

Earl Spencer's book – being exclusively serialised by the Daily Mail – has coincided with Harry and Meghan's return to the UK and sources close to the duke admit he was 'aware' of it – but insist he has not read it. 

Since returning, the Sussexes have already hit several bumps in the road, including pulling their children out of school after just two days over security concerns linked to traffic. 

But in his first interview since returning last night, a grinning Harry said: 'It's great. It's wonderful to be back on British soil and really nice to see so many old faces and friends. It's been eventful, but we're getting stuck into the work. 

'The kids are in school. We're happy. And, as I said, it's great to be back on British soil and, yeah, looking forward to Birmingham next year.' 

• READ MORE: Moment Harry ignores question about Earl Spencer's book but admitted his first two weeks back in UK have been 'eventful' amid war of words between the King and Diana's brother
• READ MORE: AMANDA PLATELL: I understand Earl Spencer’s pain – I too lost a beloved sibling. This is why he needs to voice his truth about Diana now 
• Read the book so raw and revealing it started a war of words with the King here