Prince William makes history by becoming first royal to appear on The Graham Norton Show

Graham Norton viewers were treated to a surprise visit from Prince Willam on Thursday.

During the pre-recorded show, Graham was sitting with guests Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham – when William strolled on.

The prince was greeted with cheers and gasps of surprise as he sat down with Graham – the first time a royal had done so.

William, who established The Earthshot Prize in 2020, spoke about his work for the prize, in addition to his love of Aston Villa and admiration for the films of Christopher Nolan.

William explained the work of the Earthshot Prize (PA)

Graham then revealed the connection between all four of his guests: Blanchett is an Earthshot Prize Council Member, Irwin is an Earthshot Prize Global Ambassador and Waddingham hosted the 2023 Earthshot Prize Awards in Singapore.

William is the first royal to appear on The Graham Norton Show, but other royals have appeared on chat shows before. Princess Anne sat down with Terry Wogan on The Wogan Show in 1985 and the late Prince Philip did so in 1986.

Prince William’s Instagram account showed an image of William on the iconic blue sofa ahead of his appearance.

William explained how the prize was started and the importance of ensuring the urgency of climate change was messaged alongside positivity.

He emphasised the role of innovators in tackling the issue and how the prize can help scale up their solutions.

William had a connection to fellow guests Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham and Robert Irwin (PA)

He highlighted how no one person or organisation can fully tackle the problem, but a ‘global coalition’ can come together to ensure individual investors, innovators and activists can make an impact.

Irwin told the audience, the prize played a key role in inspiring young people to become environmental advocates.

Waddingham explained how the prize connected innovators with networks and investment, helping them to grow, while Blanchett described The Earthshot Prize as a ‘tapestry of solutions’.

On 13 October, William played cricket on The Mall with England and India stars to mark Mumbai hosting this year’s Earthshot Prize, whose ceremony is on 18 November.

William impressed with his batting skills at the Cricket on the Mall event (PA)

The cricketers included England test captain Joe Root, former India captains Ajinkya Rahane and Sourav Ganguly, and West Indies great Brian Lara.

The professional’s assessment of William’s cricketing ability? The prince is a ‘pretty good batter’ but his ‘bowling needs a bit of work’.

“There are some wonderful backdrops in cricket, but none quite like Buckingham Palace,” said Root.

The ‘Cricket on the Mall’ event was also attended by England women’s captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, England white-ball captain Harry Brook and radio DJ Greg James.

More than 5,000 participants will join the November 18 Earthshot Prize event, which will be streamed on Prime Video and made available in 40 languages across 240 countries.