Prince William was a rock 'n' royal star as he teamed up with music legends to help wildlife conservation.
The prince handed out three awards to winners at his 12th annual Tusk Conservation Awards at The Savoy, in London. He was helped by Rolling Stones icon Ronnie Wood and Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler and met during a pre-wards reception.
Tusk ambassador Wood, 77, previously sold a gorilla statue to raise funds for Tusk and Knopfler, 77, auctioned his guitars which raised £600,000 for the charity. William said there ‘is a lot of creativity here’ and joked they had enough to start band.
William said: “My youngest is learning the drums that’s why I spend my entire life with my fingers in my ears.” Ronnie also told him that the gorilla auctioned for Tusk was given back to him and now sits in his garden.
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POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Film producer Sally Humphreys Wood, 46, told William that she met his father the King last week at a BAFTA bash at Buckingham Palace. And Knopfler, who was with wife Kittie Aldridge, 62, said he has 100 guitars left and hailed Christie’s for the auction for Tusk earlier this year.
William said to the rock stars ‘thank you for your support.” He also spoke to sponsors including Land Rover and DHL about his Earthshot Prize in Cape Town.
Hearing from Nick Maugham Family foundation about conserving rare bongo (cor) antelopes, of which only around 100 remain in the wild, William said: “People forget how rare they are.”
Hearing the organisations efforts William said he was very ‘excited” and hailed it as a ‘huge conservation success.’ Speaking about his Earthshot Prize he told guests: “We have to scale it up and I’m working on a few things.”
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PA)In his speech William, royal patron of Tusk, warned “tonight is a reminder that our planet continues to face terrifying environmental concerns”. He hailed the award winners for reminding “us of the importance of living at peace with nature”.
And speaking of George, Charlotte and Louis, he said: “I want my children to live in a world where swallows still migrate, gorillas still live in the cloud forests of Uganda and rhinos still roam the arid rangelands of Namibia.”
William also presented the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa to Nomba Gname, The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa to Edward Aruna and the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award to Claver Ntoyinkima - who works for Prince Harry’s Africa Parks.
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