Diners at a food van were treated to a royal surprise when they were served veggie burgers by none other than the Prince of Wales.
Prince William gave meals to “shell-shocked” diners in central London to help raise awareness of environmentally friendly winners of the Earthshot Prize.
The future king invited the team behind popular YouTube channel Sorted Food to create, cook and distribute Earthshot burgers using products made by three prize winners from 2022.
Ingredients for the burgers were grown in a “greenhouse-in-a-box” created by a company called Kheyti in India, and cooked in a Mukuru clean stove, designed in Kenyato reduce air pollution. They were served in Notpla biodegradable cartons, created in London.
“Morning everyone – nicely cooked, ready to go,” said “Chef” Prince William as he turned round to reveal himself in the van to shocked diners.
“So, for those of you who don’t know, the Earthshot Prize is there to repair and regenerate the planet,” he said. “Everything you see here comes from the winners from last year. So the box you’re about to eat in is built (by) a company called Notpla and there’s no plastic involved, they’ve come up with a seaweed coating.
“The ingredients inside the burger are grown from a greenhouse in India from a company called Kheyti, and last but not least the way we cook them has been on a thing called Mukuru clean stoves, and that is designed by a lady in Kenya who came up with the concept to reduce air pollution.”
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The chefs created a potato-based spicy burger flavoured with garlic, ginger and chilli – with pickled vegetables, served in a bun.
“My brain took three seconds to buffer,” said one of the diners, about seeing Prince William behind the counter. “Am I dreaming? Have I had enough sleep?”
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“I was lost for words,” said another.
The video begins with Prince William arriving at the Sorted Food studio to drop off the items produced by some of the 2022 Earthshot Prize winners.
Jamie Spafford, co-founder of Sorted Food – known for promoting environmentally friendly food solutions – said: “Being joined at our studio and in the food truck by Prince William was a real ‘pinch me’ moment.
“Hearing him explain how passionate he is about helping the planet and what the Earthshot Prize is doing was incredibly inspiring, and has already given us a lot of ideas for future projects to work on with our community.”
Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize to “discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet”.
There are five categories looking at nature, air, oceans, waste and climate, and the first winners were announced in 2021, each receiving £1m to scale up their pioneering projects.
“I’m never drinking tap water again,” Kayley Lewis says.
“My symptoms have made me lose a stone in two weeks.”
Ms Lewis and her two children have been suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps for over a fortnight – since South West Water found small traces of the parasite cryptosporidium in the Hillhead reservoir.
“I can’t trust them [South West Water] again.
“I might start using tap water for dishes… but definitely never to drink. Ever.
“I’ve been completely put off now… especially because of how poorly it makes you feel.
“I just don’t think I could ever try and risk going back to that.”
At least 46 people are confirmed to have the disease, while as many as 70 other cases of diarrhoea and vomiting are also under investigation, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
South West Water (SWW) has repeatedly apologised – telling Sky News today that they are working “around the clock” to get all households back to using safe water again.
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This could be as early as this Wednesday, drought and resilience director at SWW David Harris told me.
“We’re looking at somewhere between mid to late next week before we’ll be in a position to be able to responsibly lift that boil water notice.”
So far, 14,500 households in the Alston supply area can drink their tap water without boiling it first – as advised by SWW.
However, some 2,500 homes in Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear have been told to continue boiling – and cooling – their water supplies before drinking it.
Steve Price, who runs the Station Guest House B&B near Brixham, said he lost a couple of thousand pounds in bookings due to – understandably – paranoid customers.
“Losses we anticipate are roughly around £2000 from people that have cancelled and directly stated that the cancellation was due to the water situation.
“So we would anticipate that at the bare minimum as compensation.”
At every step through the Infected Blood Inquiry, he has been in his family’s hearts and minds.
Just like every other bereaved family carrying the memories of loved ones throughout their long fight for justice.
“The way I feel… I don’t feel like my brother can rest until we all rest,” Peter Lloyd’s sister Sarah told Sky News.
Mr Lloyd was the second of seven siblings.
He joined the RAF and loved serving his country. He became a chief technician and was posted to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
However, it was a car crash in the UK in July 1985 that caused him to suffer horrendous injuries.
He had a blood transfusion in hospital that he and his family believed had saved his life. That may have been true, but it also, years later, led to his death.
He was only told more than a decade after the transfusion that he’d received contaminated blood. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C shortly after.
Mr Lloyd later developed bowel and liver cancer and died aged 55 in 2008.
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‘It tears your life apart’
His family’s mission since then has been to help ensure the whole scandal of contaminated blood transfusions is fully understood.
His sister Sarah Martin, 66, told Sky News that compensation should be paid, but that it can’t put right the wrongs: “I’d rather have my brother, I’d rather not have any money.
“He’s gone – they have taken him through reckless blood transfusions.
“It’s just heartbreaking it tears your life apart.”
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One of the boys, aged 13, was rescued from the river and taken to hospital, where he remains “in a critical condition”, Northumbria Police said in a statement on Sunday morning.
A huge search, which involved the police, ambulance, fire and mountain rescue services, then continued as crews raced to find the second boy.
“Sadly, the 14-year-old’s body was later found in the water and he was pronounced dead at the scene,” police said.
Chief Superintendent Helena Barron, of Northumbria Police, said it was an “absolutely tragic incident”.
She added: “Our thoughts are with the families of both boys at this difficult time as we continue to support them.
“A number of agencies were involved in the incident and their support was hugely appreciated.
“It is with great sadness that we could not provide a more positive update.”
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Police said the parents of both boys are being supported by specially-trained officers.