William tells John Cleese his children love Fawlty Towers

The Prince of Wales has told comic actor John Cleese his children have just discovered his hit 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers and “love it”.

William revealed they were having “a lot of family laughs” watching the shows together when he joined Cleese at the Tusk Conservation Awards honouring workers safeguarding Africa’s habitat and animals.

The future King is royal patron of the Tusk Trust wildlife charity, which stages the annual awards to honour leading conservationists and rangers working in Africa, and before the ceremony he chatted to trust ambassadors Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood and Cleese.

Among the guests at the event at the Savoy Hotel in central London were Zara Tindall and husband Mike, and William’s cousins Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer.

In a speech to guests the prince warned this generation must not stand by while “wildlife and biodiversity disappears”.

Before the presentations William told Cleese, joined by wife Jennifer Wade: “My children have just discovered Fawlty Towers, they literally love it, we’ve been having a lot of family laughs.”

William said he had been “reminiscing” and “reliving” the popular 1970s sitcom “all over again with the children watching – it’s brilliant”.

The prince turned to Cleese’s wife and said “it’s so good you’re part of the Tusk family” and said to Wood he was one of the longest-serving ambassadors.

After talking to the prince, Cleese said of Fawlty Towers: “I always explain it’s about ‘who’s scared of who’ and kids pick that up immediately. And mine, all those years ago, grew up watching it.”

Wood was accompanied by wife Sally Humphreys, who said they started a tradition, around five years ago, of sending William and his family chocolates every Easter.

At the awards ceremony, the winners were Laban Mwangi, a head ranger working in Kenya who was named Tusk Wildlife Ranger 2025; Rahima Njaidi, who has established a Tanzanian community-led forest conservation network, and received the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa; and Kumara Wakjira, who received the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa for work in Ethiopia.

William told the guests: “Humanity thrives when nature is given the space to provide us with the clean air, water and food that we all require.

“That is why the insight and expertise of the Tusk award winners should inspire us to drive change. We must continue to amplify their voices and support their vital work.

“If we all want to continue to enjoy and benefit from the wonders of the natural world we must not be the generation that stands by as wildlife and biodiversity disappears.

“What we choose to do will have an impact on future generations and tonight we must choose to do more.”