PRINCE IN A BILLION: Harry seals mega 9/11 charity deal
HAS Prince Harry finally found his calling? The Royal looked a natural as he sealed a £1billion deal on a financial trading floor yesterday in a charity day honouring victims of the September 11 attacks.
Armed with three phones as traders barked orders at him, the Duke of Sussex kept his cool and closed the deal, which raised around £50,000 for charities including his Invictus Games Foundation.
Harry, 34, joined stars including model Abbey Clancy and ex-footballer hubbie Peter Crouch, singers Beverley Knight and Katherine Jenkins and sports presenters Gabby Logan and Kirsty Gallacher.
Noise
The annual event is staged by BGC Partners brokerage at its offices in London’s Docklands to commemorate 658 Cantor Fitzgerald staff and 61 EuroBrokers employees who died in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.
At the Gilts desk, which trades in Government debt, Harry completed the huge trade under the watchful eye of Ryder Brown, co-head of the department. Mr Brown was impressed with the way the sixth in line to the throne closed the £1billion trade in 10-year gilts. He said: “He was excellent. It was very nerve-wracking but he handled the pressure well and closed the trade.
“That was the hard bit, to close the trade. He picked the telephone up and managed to do it – it’s like old-style trading.” The City traders earn commission for the deals they arrange between clients and yesterday a percentage went to good causes including the foundation of the international Invictus Games for injured military personnel.
When Harry arrived on the trading floor he stopped at the Euro Swap desk where traders shouted potential deals at each other. When handed a phone he had to put his finger in his ear to block the noise.
He followed the orders of staff as he closed a £75million deal and at one point said to the client on the phone: “Come on, just one more.”
When that deal was done another trade, this time worth £100million, was offered and he asked: “Can you improve your offer?” A round of applause went up when the
transaction was completed. Earlier, Harry had met Invictus Games competitors and he was joined on the trading floor by former Royal Marine Paul Vice, a veteran of the Paralympic-style competition. Mr Vice, who at one point held a phone under Harry’s chin while the royal had one in each ear, said: “That was stressful, but it was good fun.”
Stars from the sports world manning the phones included cricket star Monty Panesar, former England footballer Sir Trevor Brooking, former Three Lions manager Sam Allardyce and TV commentator John Motson.
Comedians helping included Alan Carr and Jon Richardson.
PRINCE Harry and an army of celebrities joined forces with City hotshots to raise thousands of pounds for charity and commemorate the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Duke of Sussex sealed a £1billion deal on a noisy trading floor, raising around £50,000 for good causes including the Invictus Games.
Many people working in Britain’s mighty financial sector have a strong social conscience and, in using their sought-after skills to help charities, they can enrich lives around the world.