Dubai: Britain’s Prince Harry gave his backing to Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid on Monday evening while at a charity event encouraging some of the emirate’s most charitable people to dig deep for his children’s foundation, Sentebale.
Speaking in Arabic at the end of his speech, the Prince said “thank you for your generosity and all the very best with Dubai’s bid for [Expo] 2020”. Prince Harry attended the event with the aim of raising at least Dh4 million to build a £2.2 million centre for children affected by HIV in Lesotho.
By the time he came on to speak, at least Dh600,000 had been collected in pledges from individuals. “Your money is not being thrown in a box where you don’t know where it’s going,” Prince Harry said. “It is going into brickwork. It means a lot to us to be able to provide this opportunity to so many children.”
The red-headed prince – the younger brother of Prince William and uncle of future king Prince George – hosted the VIP fundraiser for Sentebale at the JW Marriot Marquis, in partnership with the UAE’s Al Jalila Foundation, on his first visit to the UAE.
“We’ll be looking to raise something in the region of Dh4-5 million, which would be incredible,” said Cathy Ferrier, the chief executive of Sentebale, the charity the prince founded in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, who also attended the event. Around £1.1 million has already been raised for the centre, including contributions from the Elton John Aids Foundation. “We’ve attracted some extremely important people in Dubai and we’re really hoping with the combination of those things we’ll be able to reach our targets and hopefully to start the build in February 2014,” added Ferrier.
“Al Jalila Foundation was established by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum [Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai] to help position Dubai and the UAE at the forefront of medical innovation globally,” said Dr Abdul Kareem Al Olama, CEO, Al Jalila Foundation. “Sentebale is our first global partner, and we look forward to supporting them in transforming the lives of children with HIV in Lesotho through the Mamohato project."
Auction items included rare Islamic gold and silver coins from the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, which sold for Dh180,000, and a polo weekend on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s estate; British singer Joss Stone performed, and told tabloid! she was happy to lend her voice to the charity. “My voice is my tool. Songs can go a long way.”
Sentebale, which means forget-me-not in Sesotho, was founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso in 2006 in memory of their mothers after Harry did a gap year and fell in love with the country. The centre is called Mamohato, after Prince Seeiso’s late mother. Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was also heavily involved with charity work.
