The Earthshot Prize was meant to unite the world behind climate innovation. Instead, this year’s ceremony in Rio de Janeiro has divided it. Brazilian chef Saulo Jennings turned down the offer to cater Prince William’s high-profile event after being told the menu must be entirely vegan. For Jennings, who built his culinary reputation on sustainable Amazonian cooking, the rule felt like cultural erasure.
He had planned to showcase pirarucu, a once-endangered river fish now thriving thanks to community-led conservation. When organizers insisted on a plant-only menu, he declined, calling the request “disrespectful” to his heritage. His remark—“It’s like asking Iron Maiden to play jazz”—quickly became the defining quote of the controversy.
The story spread fast. In Brazil, Jennings was praised as a defender of authenticity. In the UK, the Earthshot team faced questions over whether a global event promoting sustainability could dictate a single vision of it. The debate left Prince William’s flagship initiative under scrutiny for misunderstanding the culture it hoped to celebrate.
The Limits of Green Branding
Earthshot’s organizers said the vegan menu was chosen to align with the event’s climate goals. Yet the decision exposed the narrow view of what sustainable living means beyond Britain. Jennings’s approach to Amazonian cuisine relies on balance, using what the forest and rivers naturally provide. In his eyes, removing fish entirely was not progress but ignorance.
The episode also reignited criticism of Prince William’s public image. His hunting photos from previous years resurfaced online, contrasting sharply with the moral stance projected by his environmental work. Critics saw the tension between personal habits and public messaging as evidence that royal sustainability often functions as branding, not belief.
While Earthshot’s team clarified that William had no role in menu decisions, the distinction did little to soften perceptions. To many observers, the situation mirrored a familiar pattern: the palace distancing itself when controversy hits while retaining credit when ideals align with positive headlines.
A Clash Between Culture and Optics
The fallout went far beyond culinary debate. Brazilian newspapers described the situation as a “slap in the face” to local tradition. Social media overwhelmingly sided with Jennings, framing his refusal as a defense of Amazonian dignity against imported eco-politics. In the UK, the story played differently. Coverage leaned on the royal connection, with some outlets portraying the chef’s choice as an overreaction.
This imbalance exposes deeper divides in how people frame environmental leadership. In one region, communities root sustainability in coexistence. In another, corporations and royals shape it through optics. Jennings’s decision forced that contrast into the open, highlighting the gap between lived sustainability and its polished presentation.
Still, the chef remained diplomatic. He wished the Earthshot team success and said he would continue teaching others that true respect for the environment means harmony, not exclusion. His calm response only strengthened public admiration.
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Final Thoughts
Prince William’s Earthshot Prize continues to sell the fantasy of royal-led environmental progress. His latest post about building a “waste-free world” might sound visionary, but the contradictions are glaring. The same man preaching sustainability flies across continents for engagements and multiple family getaways, all while fronting a palace operation rooted in excess.
The arrogance of expecting a top Brazilian chef with a well-known mission rooted in Amazonian ecology to abandon his principles for royal PR only reinforces how detached this campaign has become. Jennings’s refusal exposed how Earthshot often confuses eco-activism with image management.
Imagine a world where nothing goes to waste – no tech, no clothes, and no buildings. The Earthshot Prize to Build a Waste-Free World awards the most outstanding efforts to meet this crucial challenge.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 27, 2025
Meet our Finalists building a better future:
ATRenew is building a circular… pic.twitter.com/aTAiBeI6Er
And now, as the Prince of Wales posts about circular economies and zero waste while his family bankrolls sprawling estates, displaces tenants through Duchy developments, and commissions resource-heavy royal projects, the disconnect feels impossible to ignore. William isn’t vegan, yet his event imposed a vegan menu on a chef whose entire philosophy centers on balance with nature.
The irony writes itself: a royal preaching sustainability from palaces powered by privilege, lecturing the world on restraint while refusing to practice it. Real environmentalism doesn’t come from staged awards or curated optics, it comes from people like Jennings, who live it every day.
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It’s a sign of maturity that as people grow up they think more, and differently than they did. Pretty stupid to adopt a view and cling on regardless of the changing facts…. People are so keen to tear down rather than build up, but that is a sign of their own lack of growth. So, the organisers slipped up – so what . No one goes through life without making mistakes ,it is how we learn – I’m sure they will make many more. So to the mean spirited, I ask, what are you doing to help the world ?