William is said to have created his lasting legacy in recent months after launching the Earthshot Prize with national hero and conservationist Sir David Attenborough. The award will go to entrepreneurs who come up with eco-friendly solutions to the world’s greatest challenges over the next ten years — and dish out £50million in the process. The Duke of Cambridge also showed his passion for conservation in particular, when the ITV documentary ‘Prince William — A Planet for Us All’ aired earlier this year.
The second-in-line to the throne darts around the globe to investigate what is causing the climate crisis and also potential solutions in the programme, but is caught off guard when visiting an ivory store in Tanzania.
Tusks have a street value of £50million there, and the astounding collection shows impounded ivory.
William is seen tearing up at the “mind-blowing” pile of 43,000 tusks — and this is not the first time he’s been vocal about ivory.
The royal reportedly told zoologist and family friend Dr Jane Goodall that he wanted to “see all the ivory owned by Buckingham Palace destroyed” six years ago.
According to royal author Robert Jobson, Charles occasionally feels “duty-bound to wade in” when his sons are at risk of causing an upset — and so the heir went on to have a “frank exchange of views” with his eldest son over his disruption to the Palace.
Mr Jobson recalled: “Charles told William he was being ‘naive’ and he should have chosen his words more carefully.
While appreciating his son’s sentiment, Charles believes there is a vast difference between calling for action against illegal traders now and ordering Buckingham palace to rid itself of an enormously important and historical collection of artefacts that form part of the Royal Collection Trust.”
The Palace’s collection includes a 19th Century Indian throne with a footstool.
King George IV also acquired a pair of 18th Century seven-story pagodas — tiered towers — which are in the Palace’s stores.
READ MORE: Charles and Diana’s bond ‘strengthened after skiing tragedy’
William also found himself in hot water in 2016 after he claimed trophy hunting of animals could be excused if the animal was infertile, at the end of his life, and the hunter wanted to make a donation to conservation charities.
He said: “There is a place for commercial hunting in Africa as there is round the world. [Although] it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.”
He went on a deer and wild boar hunting trip in Spain in 2014, too, just a day before he launched an appeal to stop illegal wildlife hunting — although there’s no suggesting his excursion was not legal.
This week, William’s younger brother Prince Harry also stepped up to echo his brother’s words surrounding climate change from his ITV documentary.
He spoke to WaterBear, and said it was important to put “the dos behind the says” and take action to address the environmental crisis.
Similarly, the Duke of Cambridge told ITV: “The younger generation are wanting more and more people to do stuff and want more action. We’ve got to speed the pace.”
