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Kirstie Alley, Lucie Arnaz,
HRH The Prince Edward,
Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan, Marilu Henner,
Jacob Clemente, Liz Pearce, and Ed Westwick |
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THEY WERE ALL
THERE! British Royalty, Hollywood A-Listers, legendary
athletes, beauty queens, NYC socialites and top business
executives. They all came together to support the Duke of
Edinburgh's International Award and Young Americans'
Challenge at the Pierre Hotel. Sponsored by RBC Capital,
the night was filled with entertainment, heart-warming
speeches, much laughter and great food. The ballroom was
bursting with British tradition... from the sound of
bagpipes to the smell of Yorkshire Roses, to the haunting
music of BILLY ELLIOT. HRH The Prince Edward, Earl
of Wessex, graciously greeted guests with a smile,
clearly enjoying the fun and laughter of the guests, and the
special message of the Speakers.
The event
benefited the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award and
Young Americans' Challenge, an award program started by
HRH Prince Philip in 1956. Since its introduction, the self-
development initiative has been implemented in more than 130
countries. Seven million young people have taken the Award
Challenge. The Award is dedicated to the personal
development of people aged 14-25 from all backgrounds. The
International Award honors those who have made great
personal achievements in the areas of service, exploration
in a challenging environment, skills and physical
recreation. The Award encourages fitness, mental challenge,
individual perseverance, teamwork and interactions with
others.
Sam Haskell ,
President of the Duke of Edinburgh's Young Americans?
Challenge introduced HRH The Prince Edward to speak.
When His Royal Highness's microphone abruptly cut out, he
joked, "You can't get rid of me that quickly!" creating a
roar of laughter amongst guests. BILLY ELLIOT performers
Jacob Clemente and Liz Pearce wowed the crowd
with numbers, Electricity and Shine from the
Tony Award winning Broadway musical. VIP guests included
Kirstie Alley with her daughter Lillie Parker, Ed
Westwick, Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Luckinbill, Rob Gilbert,
Marilu Henner, Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan,
Bruce Levingston and Stephen Baer. After spending
much of the evening at an event with President Obama
and stuck in a frozen zone, Whoopi Goldberg made her
way across town for friendly hellos and photographs with
some lucky guests.
Guests had
traveled from far and wide. Fred Obala, an
International Award recipient together with Corrin Varady
had journeyed from Africa. A group of DOE workers, headed by
Elisee Etienne who spoke on behalf of this powerful
local NYC group, wowed their crowd with their passionate
stories and perseverance through incredible hardships. Greg
Belton, chairman of the International Awards group
joined Mark Standish, sponsor and head of RBC Capital
Markets and several other Canadians who had traveled to NYC
for the event. Judy Murat Grubman was in from Palm
Beach and Lee Tirdavel traveled across the pond.
Catherine Saxton, of Sheffield and New York chaired the
Gala, and Josh Randle, Todd Ruppert, Rohina
Bhandari, Michael Smith and David Hryck
were amongst the committee.
A wonderful
evening was had by all! |