As we discussed yesterday, Prince William (barely) did a thing to highlight some Earthshot Prize winners’ innovations. The thing in question was a video with food-vloggers Ben Ebbrell and Kush Bhasin of the YouTube channel Sorted Food – William turned up at the beginning to explain the innovations, then William left Kush and Ben to work out the applications and develop the veggie burger. Then William showed up at the end of the video to do a little skit with a food truck – William “served” the burgers to “unsuspecting” people and gave them a lecture about Earthshot. I’ve cued the video to that part:

As you can see, this isn’t really a city street available to passerbys. They set up the foodtruck in an alley or some kind of closed-off area, and then they brought people up to the foodtruck. Well, there’s a rumor going around that Sorted Food and/or Kensington Palace basically set up every part of the foodtruck skit, meaning those people were hand-selected and told how to give “surprised” reactions to William’s presence. It looks like the palace’s screenwriters are not on strike. Did they film this on some studio backlot?? Were those people paid for their acting performances?

The royals produce a staged video and @ITV and @SkyNews report it as if it were a genuine moment of surprise from ‘diners in london’.

— Republic (@RepublicStaff) July 31, 2023

They certainly missed the corruption and hypocrisy of the royals. Talk about that.

— Republic (@RepublicStaff) July 31, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Britain’s Prince William, center, chats with the outpatients as he attends the official opening of the Oak Cancer Centre at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, Thursday, June 8, 2023.,Image: 782222797, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon

Britain’s Prince William, right, greets the staff members and their children as he attends the official opening of the Oak Cancer Centre at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, Thursday, June 8, 2023.,Image: 782222822, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon

Prince William, Prince of Wales meets members of the kitchen team as he visits The Duchy Of Cornwall Nursery to open The Orangery restaurant on July 10, 2023 in Lostwithiel, United Kingdom. Prince William visits The Duchy Of Cornwall Nursery to open The Orangery restaurant, which has been built as part of a nine-month extension project to create sustainable visitor spaces at the garden centre. Lostwithiel, Cornwall, UK, 10 July 2023,Image: 788350689, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Hugh Hastings / Avalon

Prince William, Prince of Wales meets members of the kitchen team as he visits The Duchy Of Cornwall Nursery to open The Orangery restaurant on July 10, 2023 in Lostwithiel, United Kingdom. Prince William visits The Duchy Of Cornwall Nursery to open The Orangery restaurant, which has been built as part of a nine-month extension project to create sustainable visitor spaces at the garden centre. Lostwithiel, Cornwall, UK, 10 July 2023,Image: 788350713, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Hugh Hastings / Avalon