Matt Damon's Royal Connection: Why He Was at Events Tied to Prince Harry and Prince William This Week

Matt Damon's week began with events connected to Prince William and Prince Harry.

Damon, 53, stepped out in New York City on Monday, Sept. 23 to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, where Prince Harry hit the stage the following day. The actor also appeared at Prince William's Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on Tuesday, Sept. 24. 

The Duke of Sussex, 40, is visiting New York City for a busy solo trip "to advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives," his spokesperson previously said. During his high-profile appearance at CGI, he spoke openly about the serious dangers social media poses to children.

Elsewhere in the city on Tuesday, the Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies co-hosted the third annual Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit as the countdown continues to the awards ceremony for the fourth cycle of the prestigious global environmental prize that Prince William founded in 2020. The Prince of Wales, 42, didn't attend the N.Y.C. event like he did last year, but appeared in a pre-recorded video unveiling the cohort of 15 finalists in the running for five prizes of $1.3 million to scale their ideas to size. 

The 2024 Earthshot winners will be announced at a ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, on Nov. 6, and Damon appeared at the Innovation Summit in his co-founder role of Water.org and WaterEquity.

The Jason Bourne star isn't the only one who attended events around the princes in New York City. Chef José Andrés similarly pulled double duty by appearing at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit and CGI on the same day. Kate Couric also appeared on stage at CGI on Sept. 24 after hosting a panel discussion with Harry for African Parks the night before.

Andrés, 55, is the founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit dedicated to feeding communities negatively impacted by humanitarian crises. WCK became the first recipient of funding from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's charitable Archewell Foundation in 2020, The Telegraph reported, and the organizations have worked together to build four Community Relief Centers around the world and distributed meals in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. 

Andrés joined the Earthshot Prize Council alongside activists Wanjira Mathai and Nemonte Nenquimo. The additions expand the council that already included Prince William, Queen Rania of Jordan, Cate Blanchett, Sir David Attenborough, Stella McCartney, Indra Nooyi and more. 

The group chooses the winners of the Earthshot Prizes across five flagship categories for the global contest William launched in 2020 to promote impactful approaches to the world's most pressing environmental challenges through the next decade.

The latest iteration of the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit follows the inaugural Earthshot Prize Innovation Camp in London in June, which Prince William visited, and coincides with Climate Week NYC and the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.

In August, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex announced that he would visit N.Y.C. during the UN General Assembly High-level Week and Climate Week. Climate Week runs from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29, while High-level Week is being held from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27.

The spokesperson said that Prince Harry would be in New York to "advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives" and "participate in engagements with African Parks, The HALO Trust, The Diana Award and Travalyst."

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The Duke of Sussex will also "be furthering the work of The Archewell Foundation, the nonprofit organization he co-founded with his wife Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex," the spokesperson said. 

Despite the distance between the brothers amid an ongoing rift, Prince William and Kate Middleton reposted a social media message from King Charles and Queen Camilla's office wishing Harry a happy 40th birthday last week on Sept. 15.