Emma Watson made a rare public appearance in London on Monday, June 22, stepping out to support Prince William‘s United for Wildlife charity.
The Harry Potter actress, 36, took part in a panel discussion with William, 44, and actor Benedict Cumberbatch at the event.
Watson wore a black top and flowing white skirt for the occasion.
The Prince of Wales hosted Monday’s business forum, which took place during London Climate Action Week, to unite business leaders around the world on how to better tackle the illegal wildlife trade and environmental crime.
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“Storytelling is really powerful, and the story that you tell as a brand and the transparency you have and the way that you talk around these issues, it matters,” Watson said. “It matters to young people.”
Watson has not had a major starring role in a movie since 2019’s Little Women, instead focusing her efforts on her philanthropic work. In addition to supporting William and Princess Kate Middleton‘s Royal Foundation, she is a UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador.
Last year, the actress gave a rare interview about her life since stepping away from Hollywood.
“I’ll never say that I’ll quit acting. I’ll always be an actor. I’m still open to doing it again,” she said during a September 2025 appearance on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast.
Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL / AFP
Watson first found fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series released between 2001 and 2011. She starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in all eight movies.
After Harry Potter, she said she often felt rejected on film sets, explaining, “It broke me.”
“Most people don’t come to those environments looking for friendships,” the actress recalled. “I found the rejection really painful. I think it was so unusual to make a set of films for 12 years, and we were a community.”
“I was coming to those sets with an expectation that I think I had developed on Harry Potter, which was that … the people I worked with were going to be my family and that we were going to be lifelong friends,” she continued. “I came to work looking for friendship, and that was a very painful experience for me outside of Harry Potter and in Hollywood.”
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“You always get asked when you are promoting these big films, like, ‘Do you guys hang out on set and are you all friends?’ And everyone sort of nods enthusiastically. But the truth is, no one has seen each other outside of work,” Watson shared. “The schedule is insane. Everyone’s so tired that when they get any time off, you’re going straight back to your hotel room to try to claw in any piece of rest that you possibly can.”
She added, “Friendships require time and trust and presence, and those things very rarely come about. They can, and they do occasionally, but it’s more of a solar eclipse than an everyday situation.”
Unexpected Team-Up: Prince William and Emma Watson Unite for Change
Prince William had plenty to celebrate this weekend, but his latest public appearance quickly turned heads for a very different reason. After marking his 44th birthday and Father's Day with his family, the future king returned to royal duties—and made a surprisingly personal confession about the emotional toll of climate change.
William joined Hollywood stars Emma Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch at a United for Wildlife forum in London, an initiative he launched with the Royal Foundation in 2013. The organization works around the world to combat wildlife trafficking, environmental crime, and the destruction of endangered species.
But it was William's candid admission about his own fears that stole the spotlight.
The Prince of Wales revealed that climate change has caused him "sleepless nights," admitting he has struggled with anxiety about what the future could look like. Yet instead of allowing those fears to overwhelm him, William said seeing real progress through conservation efforts has helped keep his environmental anxiety under control.
He also delivered a powerful message to business leaders, urging them to become the kind of leaders they admired when they were children. With technology and innovation transforming the world at an incredible pace, William challenged CEOs to use their influence to create meaningful change.
The event launched London Climate Action Week, with more royal appearances expected, including the Earthshot Prize assembly.
Emma Watson also delivered a surprising revelation of her own. The Harry Potter star highlighted the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, pointing out that it produces more emissions than aviation and ranks behind only oil among major polluting industries.
Watson, who is also pursuing a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford, shared a hilarious story about mistakenly believing paparazzi were following her. After spotting photographers with telephoto lenses, she arranged a distraction and escaped through another exit. The twist? They weren't photographing her at all. They were waiting to capture a red kite.
Meanwhile, Benedict Cumberbatch praised William as "a great guy" and urged businesses and individuals to recognize that they can still make a difference, even when global environmental challenges appear overwhelming.
With William, Watson, and Cumberbatch joining forces on the issue, the London forum delivered a clear message: the fight against environmental destruction is becoming impossible for the world's biggest names to ignore.
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