Prince William received a rock star's welcome on the tiny Island of Paquetá in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay. The future King was greeted with cries of "William! William!" as he disembarked a small Brazilian Navy boat from the mainland. Hundreds of the island's 5,000-strong population had turned out to see him and he happily shook hands, posed for selfies and even held a baby, 10-month-old Joaquim Monteiro. William joked "mustn’t drop him!" as the baby's grandmother Christina thrust the boy towards him.
“What's his name?" and "how old is he?", the Prince asked. Cuddling the baby, he said: "Bless him," before handing him back. Joaquim’s cousin Andre Luis Junior said of William holding the little boy: "Nobody asked him — he just picked him up. It’s probably because he has three kids. He loves kids."
"It’s amazing. We are so happy, so happy he chose this very small island. We’re very unique in the heart of Rio [bay]. Very quiet. We love that he chose to come here. The kids in school were so excited today.”
William helped several young children come to the front of the walkabout, bending down to be in photographs with them and occasionally grabbing a phone to take the selfie himself. The island, which has around 5,000 residents, has declared the visit "The Day of the Prince", with children clamouring to be off school to see him. Many had created colourful drawings to hand over to him, calling him "Prince of the Island" and the visit "Prince Day".
© Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesMarcel Gomes de Castro, 12, gave the Prince two of his best paintings: one seascape and one of a naval boat in the small harbour. His father Alan said he had finished them two years ago, but that they were so special he wanted to give it as a gift to the Prince. "It's a welcome for William, he wanted to give a gift," said Alan. "Everyone here is very excited." William asked Marcel about the details of his paintings. "Did you really paint that!?" he asked. "That's incredible, brilliant. That's so kind of you, thank you very very much."
© Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesPrince William was heard to say "obrigado" and "bom dia" on repeat, clasping his hands in a signed thank you in lieu of not understanding much of the Portugeuse being spoken. Meeting a travelling school group, he joked that the "teachers are noisier than the kids" to uproarious laughter. Among local residents who chatted to the Prince was Felicity Clarke, 42, from Stoke on Trent, who works at the University of Rio de Janeiro and her friend Luciana Meireles, 40, whose husband Damian is from Manchester.
"I never thought that he would really come," said Luciana. "I just went into the shop to get, you know, some stuff for breakfast. And then I saw people here and was like, okay, so it's actually happening. "It's always good to know that people are talking about Paqueta. It's just like a really small place, quiet place, so it's something out of the ordinary, in the middle of the week on a Tuesday morning." William also chatted to Edinburgh-born schoolboy Lucas McGeogh, whose father Graham, from Glasgow, also teaches at the university, and mother Telma, is from São Paulo. "Do you know Aston Villa?" the Prince asked. Speaking afterwards, Lucas said: "It was good, I was a bit nervous. I told him my favourite team is Fluminense." Lucas, who took a morning off school to see William, added: "It was really exciting."
© Getty ImagesWilliam was visiting to learn more about how conservationists are working to protect vital mangrove forests. He was welcomed by Ana Paula Prates, head of the Oceans Department at the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, Mauro Pires, President of ICMbio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), and Breno Herrera da Silva, Southeast Region Manager of ICMbio.
