Prince William's Wildlife Charity Gets Huge Boost from Gala Ahead of His New York City Visit

The Prince of Wales heads to New York for two days next week as his Tusk Trust celebrates much-needed fundraising at a Hamptons event

Prince William's longstanding conservation campaign is celebrating a massive fundraising boost from a glitzy late summer party.

As the Prince of Wales, 41, prepares to head to New York for his climate change campaign, his Tusk Trust sent him some good news: It raised around $150,000 towards their ongoing work in the fight to ensure rhinos and elephants are free from poaching.

Part of that work is supporting the rangers who risk their lives in the face of well-organized and militarized gangs plundering Africa's prized wildlife.

Charlie Mayhew, CEO of Tusk, told the Footprint of Life Gala in the Hamptons about the urgent need to support the rangers. Prince William has spoken out on their behalf too — and last year issued a plea to help rangers in the wake of the murder of a leading wildlife ranger in South Africa.

The fundraising evening, recently hosted by Amy Green and Gary Green at their home in Bridgehampton, raised $600,000, with about a quarter going to Tusk Trust. Prince William has been patron of the charity since early in his public life. The jungle-themed “50 Shades of Green” soiree starred a musical performances by singer Grace Vanderwaal and German techno artist Jan Blomqvist.

Amy Green said that the gala evening was not just about "raising needed funds dedicated to the preservation of our planet, anti-­poaching, rainforest protection, education, improving livelihoods and climate change around the world." It also brought people "together to find ways to support each other and make change in the most crucial parts of the world is vitally important."

"I am so fortunate to be able to raise my beautiful family in this lovely world, and I cannot imagine waking up one day and all of our natural resources have been diminished and our wildlife extinct," she said.

In 2021, Prince William made a secret donation to the Thin Green Line Foundation, which provides lifeline grants to families of the estimated 150 conservation rangers murdered while protecting wildlife each year. His donation was made in direct response to the killing of six rangers at the 3,000-square-mile Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Jan. 10.

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William will keep the conversation about the urgent need to come up with new ideas to tackle the climate change emergency and conservation when he visits New York next week. There, he will promote his Earthshot Prize which seeks to find new solutions to bring hope for change.

He will attend the second Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York City on Sept. 19. Co-hosted by The Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Summit will unveil the fifteen 2023 Earthshot Prize finalists who are trailblazing climate solutions to repair our planet by 2030.

The Prince of Wales' Earthshot Prize awards ceremony will take place in Singapore on Nov. 7. There, five winners across the Earthshot categories — Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate — will be announced as the recipients of $1.2 million each to help implement their environmental solutions.

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