Prince Harry made a surprise appearance joining his father and brother at the packed conference hosted by the UK Government and attended by an impressive throng of heads of government and environmentalists including former New Zealand PM Helen Clark.

Earlier this week Prince William faced criticism in the local press following his reported wild boar-hunting weekend in Spain, but today the royal triumvirate were out to prove their unquestioned support for the global fight against illegal wildlife trade and their message was loud and clear.

Princes William and Harry proudly applauded as their father delivered a powerful and passionate speech reinforcing the importance of today’s event to tackle what The Prince described as “appalling trade annihilating our threatened wildlife”.

The Prince of Wales’ involvement in the campaign came about following desperate and direct calls for help from leaders in Africa.

“To be frank, it saddens me deeply that I have found myself having to play a part in helping to bring together this very important gathering,” Prince Charles said.

“A little over a year ago, a group of Presidents from Africa approached me and made an impassioned plea for help. The situation they described was indeed dire. The scale of the poaching crisis their countries were facing had reached unimaginable heights.

“Organised gangs, terrorist groups and militia were slaughtering ever greater numbers of elephants for their ivory and rhinoceros for their horns.”

The Prince set into motion a series of meetings with key heads of state and campaigners resulting in this morning’s conference at which government leaders from nations including China – one of the largest consumers of illegal wildlife trade products – to sign “The London Declaration” pledging to address “the demand for and consumption of specific products from the critically endangered wildlife.”

The Conference follows a joint putsch from Prince Charles and Prince William. The two future kings using their influence to persuade the Government to host this two-day conference to combat the £6 billion trade in ivory, horn and other illegal wildlife products.

In a video released earlier this week Prince William announced: “We have to be the generation that stopped the illegal wildlife trade and secured the future of these magnificent animals and their habitats, for if we fail it will be too late.”

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