Prince William had an adorable and hilarious interaction with a tiny fan during his trip to Singapore.

The Prince of Wales traveled to the country Sunday for his third Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, and he was greeted by a crowd when he stopped by the Jewel, a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex linked to one of Changi Airport's passenger terminals.

While greeting well-wishers, Prince William met a baby named Albane Costa, who held on to the royal's finger and even bit it.

Royal photographer Chris Jackson captured the funny moment, including Prince William's reaction to the 8-month-old baby clinging to his finger in photos he shared via Instagram.

The photographer joked in his caption that little Albane "took a liking" to the prince's finger and "wouldn't give [it] back."

The special moment between Prince William and the baby was also captured in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by user Liza Dicoy.

In the clip, the Prince of Wales, who shares three children with his wife Kate Middleton, told the parents that baby Albane was "very sweet."

"How's he sleeping? Is he sleeping OK? Good," the royal was quoted as saying by People in the video.

When he noticed that the baby wouldn't let go of his finger, Prince William said with a laugh, "I need my finger. I need my finger back!"

A day after he arrived in Singapore, Prince William gave a speech Monday at the United for Wildlife summit, where he revealed why his wife didn't join him on the trip.

The royal explained that Princess Kate stayed home in the U.K. to help their eldest son Prince George, 10, "through his first set of major exams."

"Catherine is very sorry she can't be here," Prince William said.

The couple also shares Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

But while she couldn't travel with him to Singapore this year, Middleton and Prince William did visit the country together on behalf of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Meanwhile, during the third Earthshot Prize awards ceremony Tuesday, Prince William was joined by celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Donnie Yen, Lana Condor and Nomzamo Mbatha to present the award to five winners, who each won 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) to scale up their innovations.

This year marked the first time that Princess Kate missed the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony. She attended the inaugural event in London in 2021 and the second ceremony in Boston in 2022.

Prince William launched the prestigious global environment prize in 2020 as a 10-year program to search for and scale innovative solutions to the world's greatest environmental challenges.

In addition to the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, Prince William was also in Singapore for his United for Wildlife program, which aims to combat illegal wildlife trade.

The royal said Monday that since the campaign's debut nearly a decade ago, it has supported over 600 investigations, "nearly 300 seizures of illegal wildlife products, and the training of over 110,000 people to tackle wildlife crime."

Tags
Prince William, Kate Middleton