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Another royal book! Prince William launches guide to save the planet

WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 09: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attends the prize-giving after playing in the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club, Flemish Farm on July 9, 2021 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Prince William at the prize-giving after playing in the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup in July. (Indigo/Getty Images)

Hot on the heels of his brother's unexpected book announcement, Prince William is to release a guide to saving the planet through his Earthshot Prize scheme,

William, 39, launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to award and scale up projects around the world which are working on solutions to saving the planet.

On Wednesday, the prize announced its own book, Earthshot: How To Save Our Planet written by Colin Butfield and Johnnie Hughes, with an exclusive introduction from the Duke of Cambridge.

It comes soon after Prince Harry, William's younger brother, said he would be writing his memoirs, due out in late 2022.

Alongside the royal brothers, their wives Meghan and Kate have also released books this year. Meghan produced The Bench, a children's book based on a poem she wrote for Harry for Father's Day, and Kate wrote the foreword for Hold Still, a collection of photographs taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Announcing the book, Earthshot said it "will be the authoritative book of The Earthshot Prize, highlighting the urgency of the environmental challenges facing our world while also providing readers with inspirational case studies of the incredible solutions happening globally to repair our planet".

As well as an introduction from William, the book features contributions from naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, singer Shakira and former astronaut Naoko Yamazaki.

Watch: Prince William reveals details of the first Earthshot Prize awards ceremony

Read more: What is Prince William's £50m Earthshot Prize and who is involved?

The book will be released at the same time as a five-part BBC series in the autumn, which was also created by its authors, Butfield and Hughes.

Butfield is the former executive director at the international conservation charity WWF, and Hughes is a producer and director who was behind David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet.

They said in a joint statement: "The Earthshot concept is simple: we have 10 years to turn the tide, 50 ingenious ideas, and one goal – to save our planet.

"What we need is action and optimism.

"Our book reaches from the coral reefs of Mexico, via palm oil plantations in Borneo and sheep farms in Australia, to the forests of Kenya.

"It’s an explanation of how we’ve got to this point, and how – by acting collectively – we can fix it."

No preview of William's introduction has been shared in the announcement.

LONDON, ENGLAND - UNDATED: In this undated handout photo provided by Kensington Palace,  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge looks out across London from Alexandra Palace as he announces the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards in London, England. The Earthshot Prize will hold its first-ever awards ceremony at Alexandra Palace on 17 October, featuring other famous landmarks across the UK’s capital city as part of the historic event. Founded by Prince William in 2020 and inspired by President Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize which aims to discover and scale the best solutions to help repair our planet over the next 10 years. Every year from 2021 until 2030, The Earthshot Prize will find and reward inclusive solutions to five ‘Earthshot’ goals - Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate. Prize winners will each receive a £1 million prize fund and tailored support to scale their solutions. The finalists will be announced in July. (Photo by Kensington Palace via Getty Images)
The Duke of Cambridge looks out across London from Alexandra Palace as he announces the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards. (Kensington Palace via Getty Images)

Read more: Will Prince Harry's memoirs deepen the rift with the palace?

Earthshot is the Duke of Cambridge's biggest royal project and has been touted as being to him as the Prince's Trust or Duke of Edinburgh scheme were to Prince Charles and Prince Philip.

The prize will give away £50m over the course of 10 years, giving five winners £1m each every year, to develop their solutions to problems the world faces, like climate change, restoring nature, and cleaning the air.

The first awards night is to be held at Alexandra Palace in north London on 17 October.

Earthshot: How To Save Our Planet will be published by John Murray in the UK, Europe and across the Commonwealth on 30 September, and in North America on 5 October.