William follows in mother’s footsteps as he views Rio de Janeiro from above

The Prince of Wales followed in his mother’s footsteps and posed for a photo in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue.

William stood in the spot where Diana, Princess of Wales took in the stunning views of the city hundreds of metres below from the summit of Mount Corcovado.

The prince is making a five-day visit to Brazil, his first to the South American country, to stage his Earthshot Prize, a global environmental competition to find solutions to “repair“ the planet.

Meanwhile, William’s estranged brother the Duke of Sussex has penned a passionate essay ahead of Remembrance Day, describing his pride at fighting for his country and love of “things that make us British”.

It is understood Harry’s words were released on Wednesday to avoid drawing focus away from William’s major speech at the Cop30 climate talks in the Amazon on Thursday, and the national remembrance events over the coming days culminating in Sunday’s Cenotaph ceremony.

The event will be a star-studded ceremony staged in Rio on Wednesday evening with Kylie Minogue and Canadian singer Shawn Mendes among the celebrities performing as five winners are awarded £1 million.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will join William at the awards ceremony where the prince will give the keynote speech, before both men gather with world leaders at the global climate change summit on Thursday, being staged in the Amazonian city of Belem.

William travelled to the famous statue depicting Christ to meet the 15 Earthshot finalists to learn about their experiences so far and their hopes for the future.

At the summit, closed to the public for the prince’s 45-minute visit, William looked over the stunning Guanabara Bay, before turning to recreate his mother’s picture.

He paused for a moment of quiet reflection at the exact spot where the late princess posed in April 1991, during a six-day tour of Brazil with Charles.

In the background was the world famous Sugarloaf mountain which was featured in the image of Diana taken 34 years ago when the future king was an eight-year-old schoolboy.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson, told the media travelling with William: “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.”

When William chatted to British finalist Adam Root, founder and chief executive officer of Matter, whose invention removes microplastics from washing machine water, he said he would be using the new gadget.

“An amazing idea, we’ll pay full price,” the prince said and Mr Root replied: “We can definitely do that.”

The entrepreneur from Essex, who has been nominated in the Revive Our Oceans category, developed the filter, that collects the microplastics from clothes, at his mother-in-law’s dining table, supported by a £250 grant from The King’s Trust.

The business started off creating filters for household washing machines and has since raised more than £15 million for its work and employs about 45 people.

Later, the prince took part in a “fireside” chat ahead of the Earthshot awards ceremony and was asked about his recent appearance on comic actor Eugene Levy’s travelog series.

William had told the comic his reign as King would feature “change” and the interviewer at the Earthshot event asked “a lot of change in your own family – where do you see the change, what do you think needs to happen?”

The prince replied: “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.”

William was speaking at the Earthshot Prize impact assembly, an event ahead of the awards ceremony that brought together government officials, indigenous leaders and youth advocates to share inspiring Earthshot stories from the past year.