King Charles has taken on more than 200 new patronages from the late Queen following a major review of charities supported by the royal family.
Queen Camilla has also inherited several roles, including the presidency of the Sandringham Women’s Institute.
Most notable for Charles is that he took on the Association of Commonwealth Universities, one of Meghan’s patronages before she and Harry stepped down as royals four years ago.
In March 2020, the Duchess of Sussex met ACU representatives privately at Buckingham Palace for her penultimate royal engagement, inviting a small group of journalists, including her biographer Omid Scobie. She later wrote that she had taken the opportunity to whisper to him: “It didn’t have to be like this.”
Many will consider it a diplomatically astute move for the King to take on the role, not only because he is Head of the Commonwealth, but also because it could be considered inflammatory to give the role to William or Kate.
King Charles has taken on more than 200 new patronages from the late Queen following a major review of charities supported by the royal family.
The reorganization of more than 1,000 organizations with links to the Royal Family following the King’s accession means 20 percent will permanently lose their royal status but will likely keep the word “royal” in their title.
The losses have come because there are now fewer active members of the Royal Family, such as Prince Andrew. When asked to give up existing patronages, they naturally turned to the Queen.
At the time of her death in 2022, the late Queen was still a patron of 492 organizations at age 96, while Charles and Camilla headed 441 and 100, respectively. The King now has 669 and the Queen 115. Patronages of other members of the Royal Family will be announced in due course.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive for a visit to the Macmillan Cancer Center at University College Hospital, London, on April 30.
These affiliations are considered of great value to interested organizations in terms of profile, fundraising capacity and attracting real visits.
The King also takes on the role of patron of the Royal British Legion, the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Samaritans. Among Queen Elizabeth’s charities, Queen Camilla will take charge of the Royal Academy of Dance, appropriate given that she and her friends enjoy ballet lessons.
It is understood the review took 18 months to complete due to the large number of organizations to review and organize the Coronation.
Aides said they would closely monitor the King’s workload during his cancer treatment.
Ant and Dec have no role in the royal roster
They were among the most familiar faces at the Coronation, but it emerged that Ant and Dec have not been included in the official record of the ceremony.
Only guests with royal, political or ceremonial roles are named, meaning they have been categorized as “other groups”, along with Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.
King Charles this week received the Coronation Scroll, a 700-year-old tradition that records the details of the ceremony on an illustrated scroll.
Ant and Dec arrive for King Charles’ coronation on May 6 last year.
King Charles this week received the Coronation Scroll, a 700-year-old tradition that records the details of the ceremony on an illustrated scroll.
The King joked that he hoped there were no errors among the 11,600 handwritten words and was assured they had been checked “many times.”
In fact, there is an error: a dot is missing from an ‘i’ towards the end of the manuscript.