Royal Patronages Explained: How the King and Royal Family Champion Good Causes
EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS: From the King to the Wales Family and the Princess Royal, royal patronages put charities and their work firmly in the spotlight
ROYAL patronages are at the heart of much of the work carried out by Britain's working Royal Family - although for some royal fans, what being a “patron” actually involves may not always be clear.
From King Charles and Queen Camilla to the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, members of the Royal Family maintain relationships with organisations covering an enormous range of British life. According to the Royal Family, more than 1,000 charities and organisations have a member of the Royal Family as a patron or president.
The tradition stretches back centuries, but the basic principle remains remarkably simple: a member of the Royal Family lends their name, support, money and public profile to an organisation and its work.
A royal patronage is a formal relationship between a member of the Royal Family and an organisation. Being a patron does not mean the royal runs the charity or controls its everyday decisions. Instead, a patron may visit projects, meet staff, volunteers and beneficiaries, offer advice, attend anniversaries, present awards; some may even give considerable amounts of money to the charity and help bring wider recognition or awareness to the organisation. That can be particularly significant for smaller charities.
A royal visit can turn attention towards work that might otherwise receive relatively little national coverage, while long-standing patronages can see the same royal return to an organisation over many years.
King Charles III's charitable interests stretch back decades, long before he became monarch. As Prince of Wales, Charles established The Prince's Trust, now The King's Trust, in 1976. His interests have also encompassed the environment, sustainability, heritage, rural communities, architecture and opportunities for young people.
Following his accession, a review was undertaken of hundreds of royal patronages, including organisations previously associated with Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Camilla also maintains an extensive portfolio of patronages. Her work has included supporting literacy and reading, animal welfare, osteoporosis awareness and organisations helping victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
Together, the King and Queen demonstrate how royal patronage can combine inherited institutional relationships with causes that individual members of the family have supported personally for many years.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are increasingly taking on responsibilities as the next generation of senior working royals. Prince William's interests include conservation and the environment, homelessness, mental health, emergency services, the Armed Forces and initiatives supporting communities and young people.
His Earthshot Prize, launched in 2020, has become one of the most internationally recognised projects associated with the Prince. Catherine's work has included support for children and families, sport, the arts and organisations connected with health and wellbeing.
The Princess is also associated with institutions including the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as Wimbledon), where her role as Patron has made her a familiar presence. Their work demonstrates how modern royal public service extends beyond traditional charity visits, with senior royals increasingly developing longer-term projects alongside established patronages.
Few members of the Royal Family demonstrate traditional patronage quite like Anne, the Princess Royal. The King's sister has built relationships with a remarkable variety of charities, professional bodies, sporting organisations and military associations during decades of public service, and her current diary shows the breadth of those responsibilities.
On September 11, the Princess Royal was scheduled to attend the International Sheep Dog Trials in Gloucestershire as Patron of the International Sheep Dog Society. She's due at Doncaster Racecourse the following day to mark the 250th anniversary of the St Leger Stakes.
Further engagements included presenting The King's Colours to the Cheltenham College Combined Cadet Force, visiting members of the Intelligence Corps in her role as Colonel-in-Chief and attending a reception as Royal Patron of the Certa Cito Foundation.
Agriculture, sport, the military and charitable organisations can therefore appear in the same royal diary within a matter of days. Royal patronage is not limited to the most famous members of the family either as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester continue to undertake engagements and maintain links with numerous organisations, despite receiving considerably less international attention than the King or the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, has interests and patronages spanning areas including architecture, heritage and conservation, while the Duchess of Gloucester supports organisations across health, education, the arts and other charitable fields. Their work illustrates an important part of the wider royal system. Not every engagement produces front-page photographs, but members of the extended working Royal Family can maintain relationships with organisations for decades as they work behind the scenes.
The Duke of Sussex provides a slightly different example. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stepped back as working members of the Royal Family in 2020. Harry therefore no longer undertakes official royal duties on behalf of the Sovereign. However, some of his long-standing charitable relationships have continued. Harry has been associated with WellChild, which supports seriously ill children and their families, since 2007.
He also founded the Invictus Games in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, a cause close to his heart after serving two active military tours of Afghanistan. The next instalment of the games are due to be held in Birmingham in 2027. Although his continuing involvement with these organisations should be distinguished from an official engagement undertaken by a working royal, it still demonstrates how a relationship with a cause can continue even when an individual's official position within the monarchy changes.
The importance of royal patronage is perhaps easiest to understand by looking beyond the royal involved. A visit from the King, Queen, William, Catherine or Anne will inevitably attract attention, but the intention is to redirect some of that attention towards the organisation being visited. That could mean recognising a volunteer who has served a community for decades, highlighting medical research, supporting young people, celebrating sporting achievement or drawing attention to a small charity's work.
For some royal fans, monarchy may be most visible through crowns, carriages, state visits and palace balconies, but the everyday diary tells another story. Much of the work undertaken by the Royal Family happens in hospitals, schools, community centres, military establishments, charities and organisations across the country that create a lasting impact.
