Kate Middleton & Prince William send touching message of support to those affected by Australia’s devastating bushfires

KATE Middleton and Prince William have shared a touching message of support to those affected by Australia's devastating bushfires.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posted a link to a list of resources Australians can access before the catastrophic fires are set to worsen this weekend.

The royal couple praised the "heroic" emergency services who are continuing to battle the blazes which have already claimed 18 lives.

They wrote: "Our followers in Australia can find out the latest information on the fires by following the accounts on this list.

"As the devastating fires continue our thoughts remain with those impacted and those working heroically to fight them."

The Duke and Duchess' list works by collecting tweets from the social media accounts of local fire services - which allows their 1.9m followers to stay up-to-date in the affected areas.

The couple shared a similar message in November 2019 shortly after the bushfires began - but encouraged Australian fans to follow the New South Wales Fire Service and Old Fire and Emergency Twitter accounts.

The couple's post has racked up over 3,000 "likes" from royal fans who praised the pair for their well wishes.

Last month, William announced the launch of the EarthShot prize - a multi-million pound initiative challenging the "world's greatest problem-solvers" to find 50 answers to Earth's biggest environmental problems.

Announcing the news on Instagram, William, 37 - a wildlife campaigner and father-of-three - says he is now on an ambitious decade-long project which will see a total of 50 environmental pioneers awarded a cash prize for their work tackling major problems across climate and energy, nature and biodiversity, oceans, air pollution and fresh water.

The Duke set up The Earthshot Prize after consulting members of his family as well as veteran broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough in an attempt to help save a world which is "now at a tipping point".

Kensington Palace said multimillion-pound prizes will be awarded annually to five winners around the world, in each year of the 2020s, in an initiative that draws inspiration from US President John F Kennedy's ambitious Moonshot lunar space programme of the 1960s.

William said: "The Earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet, or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve."

In more Royal Family news, Meghan Markle included a sweet photo with Kate as one of her 2019 highlights.

And Meghan and Prince Harry rung in the New Year by hitting 10m Instagram followers - but Kate Middleton and Prince William are still ahead.

Plus Kate cooed over a newborn and praised midwives for their "amazing work" after spending two days on a maternity unit.