Princess Beatrice, who is returning to public-facing roles following the premature birth of her daughter, Athena, in January, paired the dress with Jimmy Choo pumps and a pair of earrings from Chopard. If Beatrice happened to fancy another set of dazzlers from the jewellery house, she was in luck – a Chopard necklace went on sale during the charity auction. While the Princess is not an official patron of The Elephant Family (unlike her sister Princess Eugenie, and the likes of Lady Amelia Windsor, Lady Marina Windsor, Sabine Getty, Tilda Swinton, and the Queen’s sister, Lady Annabel Elliot), she is a firm supporter of the charity, which works with conservationists in Asia to protect the continent’s wildlife and communities.
King Charles, dressed for the occasion in an elephant motif tie, made an impromptu speech to the esteemed guests, discussing the passion for environmentalism that he shared with his late brother-in-law. ‘This evening is an opportunity as well to pay a special tribute, I think, to all the wonderful people who are doing all the work on the ground in India to rescue not just elephants now, but even more species as the trust and the [Elephant] Family develop an even greater ability to manage the human and animal conflict,’ His Majesty said.
‘And it just seems to me that this is a great example of why collaboration is far better than conflict and also why, if we’re doing to rescue this poor planet from continuing degradation and restore some harmony to the proceedings, we must also understand that whatever we take and exploit from nature we need to give something back in return to enable nature to sustain us.’
The Elephant Family is clearly a charity close to the hearts of the royal family, and it is perhaps no wonder that Queen Camilla was moved to tears by a video of her brother sharing his ‘optimism’ for the conservation of endangered elephants. Her Majesty, who was dressed in an elegant cream tunic top and palazzo trousers by Anna Valentine and joined by her sister for the evening, has previously spoken out about her brother’s travel through India, which inspired him to set up the charity.