The end of the year usually sees people around the world taking to social media with nostalgic posts about the past 12 months and celebratory messages for the year ahead – and the British royal family today proved to be no different.
On January 1, 2020, Prince Harry and Megan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, shared an adorable video on their Instagram account looking back at their best moments of 2019. The collage of images and videos also featured a new picture of Prince Harry holding baby Archie, and was set to the Coldplay song Clocks.
“Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and thanking you for your continued support! We’ve loved meeting so many of you from around the world and can’t wait to meet many more of you next year. We hope 2020 brings each of you health and continued happiness,” the post reads.
The family are currently holidaying in Canada, where the duchess used to film TV series Suits, and it is believed the new picture of Archie, who was born in May 2019, was taken in the North American country.
The Sussexes weren't the only members of the British royal family ushering in 2020 in grand fashion. Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, put up a video on Instagram titled “2019 in Review”, featuring scenes over the year, including their trip to Pakistan and Prince William’s visit to the Middle East.
But that’s not all – William and Kate are ringing in 2020 with the announcement of The Earthshot Prize, an initiative to “make 2020 a decade of action to repair our planet”.
Led by Prince William and a global alliance, the Earthshot Prize aims to inspire the planet’s greatest problem solvers to crack down on environmental issues plaguing the Earth.
The initiative takes inspiration from the Moon landing in 1969 which was “seemingly impossible”, but over a decade became a reality and united the world (the concept of the moonshot has since become shorthand for ambitious, ground-breaking goals).
While little else is known about the Earthshot Prize at the moment, it promises to be the most prestigious environment prize in history – not a claim that can be taken lightly.
“The Earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve," read the caption of another post on William and Kate’s social media, along with a picture of Prince William in the Hindu Kush mountain range, in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkwa Province. The photo was taken by the Duchess of Cambridge.
“Remember the awe-inspiring civilisations that we have built, the life-saving technology we have created, the fact that we have put a man on the moon. People can achieve great things. And the next ten years present us with one of our greatest tests – a decade of action to repair the Earth."
A video explaining the prize has been narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall also took to social media to share the highlights of the past decade. Clarence House released a sweet video featuring pictures of Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, from 2010 to 2019.
“As the decade comes to an end, we wanted to share some highlights from a decade in the life of TRHs The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Wishing all our followers a very Happy New Year!” the post read.
