William follows in mother’s footsteps as he views Rio de Janeiro from above

The Prince of Wales followed in his mother’s footsteps and posed for a photo in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue.

William stood in the spot where Diana, Princess of Wales took in the stunning views of the city hundreds of metres below from the summit of Mount Corcovado.

The prince is making a five-day visit to Brazil, his first to the South American country, to stage his Earthshot Prize, a global environmental competition to find solutions to “repair“ the planet.

The event will be a star-studded ceremony staged in Rio on Wednesday evening with Kylie Minogue and Canadian singer Shawn Mendes among the celebrities performing as five winners are awarded £1 million.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will join William at the awards ceremony where the prince will give the keynote speech, before both men gather with world leaders at the global Cop30 climate change summit later this week, being staged in the Amazonian city of Belem.

William travelled to the famous statue depicting Christ to meet the 15 Earthshot finalists to learn about their experiences so far and their hopes for the future.

At the summit, closed to the public for the prince’s 45-minute visit, William looked over the stunning Guanabara Bay, before turning to recreate his mother’s picture.

He paused for a moment of quiet reflection at the exact spot where the late princess posed in April 1991, during a six-day tour of Brazil with Charles.

In the background was the world famous Sugarloaf mountain which was featured in the image of Diana taken 34 years ago when the future king was an eight-year-old schoolboy.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson, told the media travelling with William: “The prince has loved meeting so many people from across Rio over the last few days.

“He’s been incredibly struck by the number of people who fondly remember his mother’s visit to this beautiful city.”