The Prince of Wales left diners opened mouthed when he unexpectedly dished up veggie burgers made with Earthshot Prize-winning products.

William handed over the meals to supporters of popular YouTube channel Sorted Food, invited by the heir to the throne to try out three winning entries from his environmental prize.

In a video posted on YouTube, William is seen in a food van in central London with the Sorted Food chefs, and one diner puts her hand to her mouth in shock as she recognises the prince.

William delivers three items from Earthshot Prize winners to the Sorted Food studios (Kensington Palace)

After putting some “Earthshot burgers” on a counter, he said: “Morning everyone, nicely cooked – ready to go.”

William went on to say: “So, for those of you who don’t know, the Earthshot prize is there to repair and regenerate the planet.

“Everything you see here comes from the winners from last year. So the box you’re about to eat in is built (by) a company called Notpla and there’s no plastic involved, they’ve come up with a seaweed coating.

“The ingredients inside the burger are grown from a greenhouse in India from a company called Kheyti, and last but not least the way we cook them has been on a thing called Mukuru Clean Stoves, and that is designed by a lady in Kenya who came up with the concept to reduce air pollution.”

One of the diners said about seeing the future king: “My brain took three seconds to buffer. Am I dreaming? Have I had enough sleep?” while another said “I was lost for words”.

Royal visit to Notpla
William talks to Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier, co-founders of sustainable packaging company Notpla (Kin Cheung/PA)

The chefs created a potato-based spicy burger flavoured with garlic, ginger and chilli – with pickled vegetables served in a bun.

The video begins with William arriving at the Sorted Food studio to drop off the items produced by some of the 2022 Earthshot Prize winners – Notpla’s biodegradable cartons, Kenyan entrepreneur Charlot Magayi’s stove and Indian start-up Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-box produce.

After telling the chefs his Earthshot project was four years “in the making”, he quips: “I had hair when it started,” before leaving them to devise and make the burgers.

Jamie Spafford, co-founder of Sorted Food – known for promoting environmentally friendly food solutions, said: “Being joined at our studio and in the food truck by Prince William was a real ‘pinch me’ moment – hearing him explain how passionate he is about helping the planet and what the Earthshot Prize is doing was incredibly inspiring, and has already given us a lot of ideas for future projects to work on with our community.”