It's no secret that the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge have been busy with royal duties during lockdown. Prince William and Kate have been taking part in endless video calls cheering on nurses from around the Commonwealth and most recently even playing bingo with residents at the Shire Hall Care House in Cardiff.
And on Thursday night, the Duke continued his work by speaking to Bill Gates, the Court Circular has revealed. "His Royal Highness, Joint Patron, the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, this evening held a Meeting with Mr William Gates (Co-Chairman and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) via telephone," the announcement read.
Prince William and Kate hosted Bill and Melinda last year
Last October, William and Kate welcomed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to Kensington Palace for a meeting to talk about their respective charities. The royal couple represented their Royal Foundation, while Bill and his wife Melinda attended the meeting in their capacity as co-chairmen and trustees of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest private foundation in the world, and Mr Gates is estimated to have given away nearly £30bn to charity.
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The low-key meeting wasn't announced beforehand or covered by royal rota, but was also noted on the Court Circular.
Bill and Melinda's foundation is the world's wealthiest charity
Prince William and Bill Gates' conversation would have no doubt touched upon the current health crisis, as the Microsoft founder is at the forefront of funding efforts to find a vaccine for the coronavirus. Most recently, Bill Gates said his foundation, the world’s wealthiest charity, would give its "total attention" to the pandemic. Bill and Melinda's foundation has directly given $250million to the COVID-19 response.
Earlier this month he donated $10million to an Australian trial of a vaccine that researchers hope will prevent severe cases of COVID-19 in at-risk groups such as healthcare workers and the elderly.