BARE FEET William served up a volley of fun and high fives on Rio’s Copacabana beach.

The Prince of Wales, 43, pulled off his socks and shoes for a game of beach volleyball.

As the sun went down on an action packed first day in Rio beachgoers crammed round to watch the royal fun.

He joined players from a local beach volleyball school run by Olympian Carolina Solberg, 38.

And he even won several points with acrobatic efforts – sharing high fives with Carolina after each success.

William ended up in the sand several times diving and jumping to get to the ball.

The heir to the throne was heard saying after: “That was brilliant.”

Her school, the Levante Institute, aims to transform the lives of underprivileged children through sport.

Before playing, he met beach heroes who keep the sands safe.

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He kept lookout on the beach watchtower.

And watched lifeguards and a chopper carry out a mock rescue from the sea.

He met Colonel Tarciso Antonio de Salles Junior, Secretary of State for Civil Defence and General Commander of the Military Fire Brigade for Rio.

And spoke to firefighters from lifeguards and watched sea rescue drills.

There were also youngsters who took part in Project Botinho – an annual free summer project organised by the fire brigade.

Playing partner Carolina Solberg, 38, praised William’s efforts saying be had “a lot of energy and having a lot of fun”.

She added: “He’s tall. He can hit. I think he could be really good if he practiced more. I think he was having fun and was amazing to play with him. It was such a pleasure.”

When asked if he could join her team she said: “Yeah, for sure. He’s in!”

It comes after Wills celebrated after he scored a goal at Brazil’s world famous Maracana stadium earlier on his five-day visit.

The royal has made the trip on behalf of the King and to mark the fifth year of his Earthshot Prize awards.

The Prince was welcomed with an honour reserved for the carnival king – the keys to the city.

William was joined today by former Brazilian star Cafu at the Maracana stadium arena.

The royal met with children learning about the environment and climate change through the sport-based organisation Terra FC.

Wills chatted to a group of volunteers from the project using football to connect with young people, and asked them: “My team’s Aston Villa, have you heard of them – you don’t have to say yes.”

The prince and the former defender, playfully battled against each other in a three-a-side match with five schoolboys from across Rio.

Afterward, the future king joined a training session with a group of young girls holding cups of water as they dribbled, in a drill to improve balance.

William ended his football drills by taking a penalty against 14-year-old keeper Pedro Enrique.

Pedro said afterwards: “I was scared and nervous but very excited as he was most the famous person take a penalty kick.

“I didn’t let him score. It was a good penalty.”

Wills beamed as youngsters flooded the pitch wanting a high-five after he scored.

The visit came after William stood on top of Sugarloaf Mountain with a bird’s eye view of the metropolis and the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue after being greeted by the Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes.

The future king had taken the cable car up to the vantage spot popular with tourists at the start of a five-day visit to Brazil to stage his Earthshot Prize and attend the Cop30 UN climate change summit.

William stood on a helipad near a tourist viewing spot to take in the sights and chatted to the mayor, who presented him with the keys to the city and shouted in Portuguese to the watching crowds “Viva Rio”.

The ceremonial keys to Rio are traditionally handed to King Momo – carnival king – by the mayor to officially launch the Rio carnival festivities.

Mr Paes is co-hosting the C40 World Mayors Summit with his London counterpart Sadiq Khan, an event showcasing how cities are tackling the climate crisis being held ahead of Cop30.

Speaking about his motivation for the environmental awards, which aim to find solutions to “repair” the planet, William told Hello! magazine: “As a father, I think constantly about the world my children will inherit.

“I want them to grow up surrounded by nature, opportunity and a sense of hope about the future. But I also know that unless we act boldly now, that future is at risk.

“The Earthshot Prize is about turning the tide, about proving to our children that we are willing to fight for their tomorrow.”

In the coming days, he will visit some of Rio’s most iconic sights before attending the Earthshot Awards on Wednesday evening at the Museum of Tomorrow.

On Thursday, he will then travel on to Belem for the UN’s climate conference Cop30, where he will deliver a landmark speech on behalf of the King and the UK government.

It comes after disgraced ex-Prince Andrew was stripped of his titles and kicked out of Royal Lodge in spectacular fashion last week.

He will now go by Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, and has been struck from the official roll of peerage.

William is understood to have supported King Charles’ bombshell decision to oust his uncle and has reportedly had a strained relationship with his uncle for some time.

The King’s ruthless move is thought to have taken into consideration the Prince of Wales’ own views on the matter with Andrew continuing to plunge to new depths, according to royal experts.

Before starting his journey to Rio, William wrote: “With the world’s eyes turning to Brazil this week, there is no better place to celebrate bold climate leadership.

“Hosting The Earthshot Prize allows us to not only recognise those driving change, but to be inspired by them.

“When we work together with optimism and courage, a more sustainable future is within our reach.”

Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex is to carry out a trip to Canada this week before Remembrance Day.

Harry will travel to Toronto to meet with veterans, members of the armed forces community and military charities.

The duke’s spokesperson said the visit had been “months in the planning” and marks a return to a city that has “a special place” in Harry’s heart.

The trip is occurring at the same time his brother the Prince of Wales’s high profile five-day visit to Brazil where William is staging his Earthshot Prize environmental awards.

However, sources have said that the clash is not intentional as the date of the dinner is set by the charity not Prince Harry.