Prince William Gives a Speech at the United for Wildlife Symposium —All the Details!

British royal and his father will attend the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade Thursday

Kate Middleton dazzled at The Portrait Gala in London Tuesday, but the spotlight was on Prince William Wednesday when he spoke at the United for Wildlife Symposium at the Zoological Society.

"I am delighted that our foundation has been able to provide an impetus for the creation of United for Wildlife," said the second in line to the British throne, who has been a Royal Patron of Tusk since 2005. "I cannot thank our seven collaborators enough for their hard work in getting us to this point."

"The forces that are currently destroying some of the world's endangered species are sophisticated and powerful. But this week, we are seeing the creation of an equally powerful alliance, coming together to help fight them," Prince William, 31, said. "The commitments set out today will begin to address the challenges of protection, enforcement and demand reduction."

"We will use our combined resources to ensure they succeed," he said. "But ours is not an exclusive partnership. It is my hope that you will all become part of United for Wildlife and the global alliance to stop illegal wildlife trafficking."

Before the high-level summit on the illegal wildlife trade in London Thursday, Prince William and Prince Charles released a nine-minute video highlighting the tragedy of illegal wildlife trafficking.

The Duke of Cambridge, who serves as president of United for Wildlife, will next attend a reception at the Natural History Museum. On Thursday, he and his father will attend the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, hosted by the U.K. Government of Lancaster house, where leaders from across the globe will meet to devise a more permanent solution to protect the world's endangered species.