Prince William gave his first public speech as the new Prince of Wales after the death of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. According to People, the royal spoke at the United for Wildlife (which he created as part of the Royal Foundation back in 2014) Global Summit on Tuesday, October 4th.
During his speech, he took a moment to remember his late grandparents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. “Our natural world is one of our greatest assets,” Prince William said per People. “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-missed grandmother, who cared so much for the natural world.”
He continued, “In times of loss, it is a comfort to honor those we miss through the work we do. I take great comfort then from the progress we are making to end the illegal wildlife trade.”
According to People, the illegal wildlife trade is worth $20 billion annually and Prince William wants to help bring the “sinister” criminal operations “out of the shadows.” Prince William, “While we do not have the luxury of time, clearly we do have a proven roadmap to success and the motivation to put it into action,” he said. “I hope you all leave here today energized and motivated to intensify this work. Because 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.”