The Prince of Wales unexpectedly served up veggie burgers made with Earthshot Prize-winning products, leaving diners speechless.

William handed over the meals to supporters of popular YouTube channel Sorted Food after inviting them 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.

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

Prince William surprised diners leaving them speechless

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.”

After seeing the future King, one of the diners said: “My brain took three seconds to buffer. Am I dreaming? Have I had enough sleep?”

Another said: “I was lost for words”.

A potato-based spicy burger flavoured with garlic, ginger and chilli with pickled vegetables was served in a bun by the chefs.

The start of the video sees 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.

He’s seen telling the chefs that his Earthshot project was four years “in the making” and joked: “I had hair when it started.”

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.”