Which World Record Did Prince Harry Just Break?

Young royal has bested the record previously held by his brother Prince William after helping to close a foreign currency trade worth 18 billion euros

By Gina Serpe Sep 12, 2011 7:33 PMTags
Prince HarryPAUL GROVER/AFP/Getty Images

You gotta love little brothers.

If they're not one-upping your weekend trip stateside with a three-month sojourn of their own, then they're completely demolishing your world record by brokering the biggest ever single foreign currency trade in history.

If we were Prince William, we'd watch our backs when it came to that whole future-king-of-England thing.

Because just this morning, Prince Harry once again got the better of his older brother, securing himself a brand new title: world record-breaker! And the fact that Wills was the previous holder of this particular title surely made it all the more sweet. Here's the deal…

Earlier today, Prince Harry donned his finest bespoke (we're guessing) suit and headed down to London's financial center of Canary Wharf. There, he joined his cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, their mother Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and model Eva Herzigova as they took part in the BGC Partners charity day—established by the company in memory of the staff from one of its international sister companies who died during the Sept. 11 attacks.

The firm in whose memory the day was established, Cantor Fitzgerald, lost 658 employees in all—sadly, more than any other organization on that day, including the New York Fire Department.

As for Harry, the 26-year-old royal manned the phones on behalf of Sentebale, the charity he cofounded to support children and orphans in the African country of Lesotho.

One of the deals he took the helm in completing was between Barclays London and a European counterparty. All told, that foreign exchange was worth 18 billion euros, or roughly $24.5 billion.

Yes, billion.

Harry earned a commission of $9,000 for his part in the trade, all of which will go to his charity.

The deal put an end to the record-holding reign of Prince William, who previously held the record thanks to a trade he helped finalize last December. That was valued at just (we say "just") 17 billion euros.

Way to go, Harry!

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