Two weeks after Kate Middleton welcomed a baby girl, proud father Prince William arrived in Switzerland on Monday, May 18 for his first royal duty since his paternity leave ended.
The Duke of Cambridge was in the municipality of Gland in western Switzerland to attend a Wildlife task force meeting at the headquarters of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Duke thanked the transport industry for its work on Taskforce and issued a call to action on the illegal wildlife trade.
Of the Wildlife trade, the Duke said, "We are up against it. This isn't an issue we have 10 or even five years to work on. We need results now."
Wearing a navy suit with a red tie, the 32-year old royal was shown around the IUCN headquarters, which lies on the banks of Lake Geneva, by Director General Inger Andersen and Isabelle Monney, Deputy Mayor of Gland.
It is the first overseas engagement for Prince William since his new daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, was born on May 2. Since the princess was born, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George have been staying at Anmer Hall, their country estate in Norfolk, where they have settled in for a long stay.
Kate is still on maternity leave and might not be seen in public for some months yet, but the Duke will have other appearances this week that are tied to his patronage work.
According to USA Today, as royal president of the Football Association, he will meet the England Women's team in London on Wednesday as they prepare to leave for the Women's World Cup 2015 in Canada. On Thursday, he will be attending a reception and dinner at Windsor Castle to mark the 25th anniversary of another of his patronages, the African conservation charity Tusk.
Prince William is expected to return to his duties with the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service next month.
