William given keys to the city in Rio de Janiero welcome ceremony

The Prince of Wales was welcomed to Rio de Janeiro with an honour reserved for the carnival king – the keys to the city.

William stood on top of Sugarloaf Mountain with a bird’s eye view of the metropolis and the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue after being greeted by the Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes.

Speaking afterwards Mayor Paes said royal protocols could have been an issue: “But, I mean, he was very nice, amazed with the beauty of the city, and we are very happy to have him here. It’s big honour for the city.

He joked: “So he’s got the keys, he can do whatever he wants in the next 72 hours. The city belongs to Prince William. I’m still the king, but it will belong to him!”

The two chatted about a range of issues from local politics, the Rio landscape, a meeting of global mayors in the city and the recent massive police raid targeting a drug-trafficking gang in Rio which left at least 121 people dead.

The mayor said: “I spoke a lot, I try to explain to him the security issue of the city a little bit. I mean, obviously, it’s much more deep than something that you can explain in five minutes, but it was a good opportunity to explain.”

Asked if he hoped William’s visit would not be overshadowed by the turmoil that has engulfed the royal family over the King’s controversial brother Andrew, he replied “Well, we all have problems.”

The future king took the cable car up to the vantage spot popular with tourists at the start of a five-day visit to Brazil to stage his Earthshot Prize and attend the Cop30 UN climate change summit.

Speaking about his motivation for the environmental awards, which aim to find solutions to “repair” the planet, William told Hello! magazine: “As a father, I think constantly about the world my children will inherit.

“I want them to grow up surrounded by nature, opportunity and a sense of hope about the future. But I also know that unless we act boldly now, that future is at risk.

“The Earthshot Prize is about turning the tide, about proving to our children that we are willing to fight for their tomorrow.”

William stood on a helipad near a tourist viewing spot to take in the sights and chatted to the mayor, who presented him with the keys to the city and shouted in Portuguese to the watching crowds “Viva Rio”.

The ceremonial keys to Rio are traditionally handed to King Momo – carnival king – by the mayor to officially launch the Rio carnival festivities.

Mr Paes is co-hosting the C40 World Mayors Summit with his London counterpart Sir Sadiq Khan, an event showcasing how cities are tackling the climate crisis being held ahead of Cop30 being staged by Brazil in the Amazonian city of Belem.

As William left he met some of the visitors who had had waited to catch a glimpse of the royal, including British tourists Jenny and Paul Galliver from Sutton Courtenay near Oxford.

“We were pretty shocked but then we saw Sadiq Khan at Christ the Redeemer yesterday,” Jenny said.

“It was a lovely surprise to see him. We are very much pro-royal.”

He also spoke to Thomas Hunter, 48, from Manchester, who said he thought William was doing a “great job” with Earthshot

“I was keen to tell him I work in offshore wind farms,” he said.