William hopes his inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards will become the “Nobel Prize of the environmental world”. The first ceremony in the decade-long ￡50million project will be broadcast on BBC One from Alexandra Palace in London. Organisers said the event, which will also be televised internationally, will feature “some of the world’s leading performers, all committed to repairing our planet”. William announced the October 17 ceremony yesterday, in a trailer filmed by a drone camera.

       The duke, in an open-necked blue shirt, is seen standing in front of the ornate Alexandra Palace rose window as the drone zooms away from him before panning round to capture London’s skyline.

       The duke says: “Join me for the first ever Earthshot Prize Awards, where we’ll unveil five global prizewinners and their game-changing solutions to repair our planet, on October 17, here in London.”

       The prize takes its inspiration from the late US president John F Kennedy’s ambitious Moonshot lunar space programme of the 1960s, which helped advance mankind’s technological achievements.

       It features five categories or Earthshots, which organisers say if achieved by 2030 would improve life for all.

       Every year from 2021 until the end of the decade, winners of the five Earthshots will receive ￡1million to be used towards their solutions.

       William said, to mark the venue announcement: “By hosting the COP26 [UN Climate Change] conference in Glasgow just weeks after our inaugural awards, the UK is helping lead the world in tackling climate change.

       “London is a fantastic location to showcase this leadership, spotlight the finalists and award our very first Earthshot Prize winners.”

       The duke met London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who welcomed the ceremony as a “momentous occasion” for the capital, at Kensington Palace last week.

       Broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, who has supported the project from the beginning, is a member of the Earthshot Prize council, which will choose the winners.

       Fellow judges include actress Cate Blanchett, pop star Shakira and Queen Rania of Jordan.