King Charles and Queen Camilla attend ball to mark conservation charity’s 20th anniversary

Animal masks in hand, the King and Queen led the festivities tonight at a conservation charity ball.

Charles, 74, and Camilla, 75, appeared in high spirits at the party at Lancaster House to mark the 20th anniversary of the Elephant Family charity, which was founded in 2003 by Her Majesty’s late brother Mark Shand.

This year’s annual Animal Ball is a celebration of Indigenous communities organized by the Elephant Family in partnership with the British Asian Trust.

At the London event, the King and Queen, dressed in a bespoke Anna Valentine, presented two Elephant Family awards – the Mark Shand Award and the Tara Award – to recognize their contributions to protecting Asian wildlife.

On arrival in the garden of Lancaster House, Their Majesties were met by Ruth Ganesh, co-founder of the Elephant Family, and Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the British Asian Trust.

Animal masks in hand, the King and Queen led the festivities at a conservation charity ball tonight

Lancaster House’s garden was decorated with the charity’s Lanterna Elephant sculptures, which were part of the ‘Co-Existence’ exhibition at the Royal Parks in 2021.

Under the sculptures of the Lanterna elephant, the king and queen met the evening’s prize winners, including members of the Adivasi tribal community from the Nilgiri Mountains, India.

The community received the Elephant Family’s Mark Shand Award for 2023 from the Queen. The King and Queen also met with Oscar-winning Indian documentary filmmaker, Kartiki Gonsalves, who received the newly created Tara Award from His Majesty.

The Tara Award is named after Mark Shand’s elephant, who first inspired the creation of the Elephant Family.

After meeting with the charity’s supporters and performers at the Animal Ball, the King and Queen made their way to a marquee for the awards ceremony.

During the presentation, Their Majesties listened to a series of musical performances by the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and singer-songwriter Tom Odell.

The King and Queen have long supported the elephant family, from visiting the charity’s projects during overseas visits such as the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, to supporting initiatives such as The Big Egg Hunt and the CoExistence campaign, where 125 life-sized elephant sculptures on display in London’s Royal Parks throughout the summer of 2021.

King Charles III speaks with reality star Gemma Collins at the Animal Ball at Lancaster House

Some of the Lanterna Elephant sculptures that were part of the exhibition are now on permanent display in the gardens at Highgrove and Raymill.

Elephant Family is a conservation charity dedicated to building landscapes that support human-animal coexistence.

The charity supports a wide range of projects that find ways for humans and animals to live closer together – from securing a network of wildlife corridors that act as bridges between islands of forests, to relocating busy highways that cut through old-growth forest.

The organization was founded in 2003 by the late Mark Shand, Camilla’s brother. He was very passionate about protecting and supporting elephants and Asian wildlife.

In 2020, Elephant Family joined forces with the British Asian Trust in a new philanthropic partnership dedicated to supporting Asia’s wildlife.

The alliance brings together the best minds in conservation, management and philanthropy to urgently respond to the growing human-animal conflict crisis and habitat loss that threatens Asian elephants, big cats and the rural communities that live alongside them.

By combining expertise, the charities accelerate their response and increase their impact on both.

As The Prince of Wales, The King founded the British Asian Trust in 2007 with British Asian business leaders. The charity works to reduce poverty and deprivation for communities in South Asia.

This includes anti-trafficking, education, livelihood, mental health and conservation work.