Vowing to carry on the good works of Camilla’s late brother, HRH Prince Charles, along with HRH,the Duchess of Cornwall, stepped in last year as “joint Presidents of Elephant Family,” after the sudden death of its founder Mark Shand. As a part of their Royal duties they intend to make room for Saving Asian Elephants.
HRH Prince Charles speaking on behalf of Elephant Family
So how does this Royal couple lend their support to helping our elephants?
By none other than squeezing into a brightly adorned rickshaw on the grounds outside Clarence House in a saucy move before an array of photographers .
Duchess of Cornwall inspects a brightly decorated rickshaw at Elephant Family charity event
The motorized rickshaws, which were “part of a fleet of 20, decorated by artists, milliners, and fashion houses,” were later auctioned off by Sotheby’s, which brought in over $ 1.1 million dollars that same day. (HRH Princess Eugenie of York, Bianca Jagger and Natalie Imbruglia also attended the auction.)
Motorized rickshaws on display for Elephant Family Charity Event
*Gold Rickshaw on left ferried the Royal Couple at Clarence House
They were on display (the rickshaws, not the Royals :)) not only to bring awareness to the cause for elephants but also to highlight an event taking place in November 2015 in India.
(An “Amazing Rickshaw Race“, aptly named “Travels to My Elephant” in honor of “the star of Mark Shand’s bestselling book,” was recently held in India featuring 45 of these motorized vehicles.)
This was just another in a series of events that Elephant Family has held to raise money for our elephants.
But as they demonstrated earlier this year being ferried in a motorized rickshaw can be quite the bumpy ride, especially one driven by a nephew (Camilla’s nephew Ben Elliot) less than experienced in the art of operating one. (Their matte gold colored rickshaw sported flags of both the UK & India across the front and an iconic figure of the elephant in shiny gold above its white canvass covered top.)
Ben Elliot, HRH Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall
And after a few royal chuckles and lurches from the motley vehicle, reports Rebecca English for The Daily Mail, a successful go-around was displayed and another prosperous event was launched all for the love of our elephants!
HRH Prince Charles & Duchess of Cornwall at Elephant Family event
Photo credits: Creative Commons Flickr: Royals, Prince Charles, Duchess Rickshaws, Rickshaws, White Elephant, White Elephant Featured
For more photos of the event see The Daily Mail online
HRH Prince Charles & Duchess of Cornwall at Elephant Family event