Prince William on Tuesday paid an emotional tribute to his “much-missed” grandmother in his first speech as Prince of Wales — with a pledge to “honour” her by continuing the fight to protect wildlife.
William, who was given his new title by his father following the Queen’s death last month aged 96, told the United for Wildlife global summit at the Science Museum that she “cared so much for the natural world”.
In a powerful address this afternoon, the new heir to the throne said: “In times of loss, it is a comfort to honour those we miss through the work we do.
“Our natural world is one of our greatest assets. It is a lesson I learnt from a young age, from my father and grandfather, both committed naturalists in their own right, and also from my much-missedgrandmother, who cared so much for the natural world. I take great comfort then from the progress we are making to end the illegal wildlife trade.”
His speech showed his commitment to continuing the King’s lifelong work to protect the planet and its wildlife.
William highlighted the serious and organised nature of wildlife crime and its damaging impact on global biodiversity and local communities.
He founded United for Wildlife with the Royal Foundation eight years ago to develop a solution to one of the largest, yet often overlooked, crimes blighting the world.
“It is a crime that robs us all of our most precious natural resources, funds organised crime, and the harms of which are often directly felt by the most vulnerable communities,” he said.
“There are still too many criminals who believe they can act with impunity, too many lives being destroyed, and too many species on the brink of extinction due to this heinous crime.
“So I call on all of you here today, and those involved in United for Wildlife further afield — keep breaking the mould, keep building bridges and making those game-changing connections, keep believing that this is a crime that can be ended once and for all.”
Last month the Standard reported how the King had hoped to travel to Egypt for the COP27 climate change summit in November to make a major speech on saving the planet. However, Buckingham Palace confirmed this week that he will not be attending.
Sources insisted that rather than being ordered to stay away by the Prime Minister Liz Truss, it was the first sign of the King stepping back from much of his campaigning work.
Tuesday’s summit in London was bringing together more than 300 global leaders from law enforcement agencies, conservation organisations and private-sector companies who are part of the United for Wildlife network.
William was paying tribute to wildlife rangers who work on the front line against commercial poachers, including ranger Anton Mzimba who was shot and killed in South Africa in July. “Anton dedicated himself to the protection of wildlife, undertaking his role diligently and professionally despite threats to his life,” William’s speech said.
“He stood up to violent criminals and paid the ultimate price. It is only right that we honour him by continuing our work with renewed focus and vigour.
“It is, of course, a difficult mission that we commit ourselves to. The challenges often cited in fighting wildlife crime include the lack of a co-ordinated international response, the lack of strong criminal justice, corruption and insufficient resources.
“But we set out to reverse that,” he added. “In the six years since creating our international transport and financial taskforces, we have brought together over 250 enforcement agencies, transport companies, financial institutions, and other corporations in the shared commitment to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
“We have contributed to over 450 law enforcement cases, over 250 arrests, almost 200 seizures of wildlife product and we have helped to train over 100,000 people.”
Urging more action he added: “While we do not have the luxury of time, we do have a map to success and the motivation to put it into action.”
William and wife Kate are set to travel to Boston in the US in December for the Earthshot Prize’s second award ceremony.
