I have no idea how accurate this is as it is in the Daily Mail. But the Daily Mail are reporting that William plans to ditch Royal patronages for charities as they make no difference to the charity.
"Prince William, keen to ditch the tradition of sprawling portfolios of royal patronages, is taking a forensic interest in a report from research body Giving Evidence. It shows when disgraced Andrew was forced to abandon his patronages, there was no financial difference recorded. A source reports William, keen to concentrate on a few causes of personal interest, believes this could be applied across the board.
Those on committees value royal connections for the garden party invitations, a visit once in a blue moon and the slight chance of an MBE, but whether it makes any difference to donations is now very doubtful. Seems that William, who has long-questioned the point of hundreds of patronages, might have been right all along."
Posted by Lazy_Age_9466
28 comments
Like, then what’s left of the job? This is basically all that they’re good for… highlighting worthy causes.
It’s not like I go specifically searching for which charities the royals support, but having the royal seal DOES add a layer of legitimacy and an aura of “okay, this is legit, it’s been checked out” around it.
Then what would they do? I know they have a few more things, but their patronages seemed to be doing really good. this is strange.
I have mixed feelings. If it brings no clear benefits, I am fine with charity patronages being dropped. But something has to take its place.
Not beating the Workshy nickname…
One of many other options here would be to figure out how to better add value to the patronages, rather than just abandoning the roles. But that would require putting work in, or at least hiring someone else to put work in for him.
Sometimes I wonder if he even wants to be King?
Elizabeth knew that if the royals were seen as too out of touch and too hands off with the people, they ran the risk of going out like the Romanovs. Did William sleep through those lessons?
Been reading a lot about the different generational mindsets, and this seems to almost be an example of the Greatest Generation sheltering those that came after them, making them less capable of actually handling tough problems.
The phrase “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.” comes to mind.
If Philip and Elizabeth created stability and prosperity for the next generations of royals, maybe their children and grandchildren have grown up a bit too comfortable and are not as fit to rule.
Whatever ‘rule’ even means these days. I’ve always seen it as a high stakes PR game, and now it’s looking like William doesn’t want to play.
That man is determined to make the monarchy as irrelevant to the public as possible. I tremble to think what will happen when he ascends the throne. I have a terrible suspicion he’s actually doing it on purpose; can it be the Prince of Wales himself does not believe in monarchy?
I think it’s okay to streamline patronages. There’s less younger people in the BRF to rely on to attend events. But I think the public will push back on funding. Makes no sense to keep the same level of perks for fewer responsibilities.
When did the patronages actually begin? My recollection is the a lot of current traditions started with QEII and they have been suitable for her era and needs. She also faced pushback for doing things different.
I think William is assessing how things need to be done for the current time. This resilience is how the British monarchy has survived through the centuries.
I think this is a terrible idea, because it’s not just about whether or not they raise money but appearing to care about different organizations, which will impact their popularity with the public.
Not sure comparing Andrew and giving amounts is accurate. Doubt he ever put himself out for any group unless there was a check involved for him.
What’s the point of the British royal family then?
Most (but certainly not all) charities and many non-profits have lower pay scales because there are some perks involved that can be hard to come by in a more corporate world. One of those in the UK is ties to the BRF, through letters, communications, visits, and invitations. Getting and keeping good people in these jobs can be difficult, and I doubt this makes it easier. Without good people, funding definitely goes down.
For genuine charities and non-profits doing important work, this will be terrible.
I really hope this isn’t true royal patronages are very good and raise awareness
Is he looking to work even less?
This is something they (meaning KP/William) have briefed about for a long time. They want to do projects or initiatives and have less patronages.
So I’d say pretty reliable but we’ll find out 100% during his reign if this is accurate or not (unless they decide to pivot)
ETA:Whoever wrote that article about Andrew and patronages (Mansey or Nikkah) and had a “close source” to William say something pretty similar.
Could William be looking to modernize the monarchy and take advantage of today’s marketplace to increase important charities. Tourism will be easy so many Castles and Historical places to visit for the Tourists.The old fashioned Carriages rides can be relegated to the top historical events. Is there an absolute monarchy left since the Monarchy has no real power other than representation. The question is for Charlie and Will, what is our purpose/role as working royals in 2025 that will carry the monarchy into the future. QE and Phillip understood that the world was changing and made some changes like broadcasting QE coronation.
Bad idea. Royal patronage has another purpose: marketing and public relations. It can get charities into the news and public consciousness, and even if that doesn’t translate into pounds raised, it does increase awareness not just of the charities but of what they’re addressing.
Even if there’s no tangible benefit from it, don’t many of those charities see it as a badge of honor that they’re being recognized that way? It’s less “more people will work with us” and more “a member of our national family thinks our work is so important that they want to be our patron”?
I wonder if he’ll stop Royal Warrants for businesses, too. Cadbury losing theirs made the news.
He’s (maybe – this is commentator’s speculation) going to move away from ‘sprawling portfolios’
Not all charitable endeavour
I hope that charities who have a royal patron and who do believe it assists their work will be able to continue to have them
The ‘but they don’t really add value’ stance usually originates with Republic (hardly a neutral commentator)
They don’t seem to hold value anymore with today’s media. A Royal visit, or connection doesn’t bring the proportional attention that it did before mass media.
Now, there are too many patronages and too few royals taking them up to give them the due attention they would need to benefit from a patronage. The royals also no longer hold the prestige they once did.
It makes sense to scale it back and focus on charities more in line with your own interests and background. Give an opportunity to let some of them benefit, rather than visiting a bunch of places for little or no donation value. How much money do they spend on visits that do nothing for the charity?
Since everyone complains about them not working, this seems to say them “working” is also just costing money for no tangible benefit.
Patronage has roots in pursuing interests and causes important to prior royals. The current members should be able to do the same and not carry on tradition for the sake of it, especially if it doesn’t seem to do anything.
It could be a meaningful change that could allow for better focus on causes rather than their just showing up in new outfits. If they are doing the same events and talks, then you associate them with that cause. People listen more when you are passionate about your cause.
Or it could do nothing. But it seems the patronages already do that, and this way, you pay for fewer events. Seems like a win. 🤷🏻♀️
So his public funding will go down too?
Royal patronages actually don’t have a lot of effect for the charity however I know they do mean a lot for those running them.
Ultimately it gave the royals a structure so they can meet lots of people and allow them to better visit places around the country.
This is a reason for the Wales to do much less and lower public expectations of them. Between them they had about 60 patronages. They expect now to be praised for showing up as opposed to having a sense of duty towards certain causes.
It will be a mixture of their passion projects mostly.
Extrapolating from what happened when Andrew had to drop his patronages sounds unreasonable. At the point when Andrew was finally pushed (mostly) out, how many of his patronages really wanted him around and as a connection to advertise?
I’m not saying to keep or drop, just that their evidence isn’t very strong.
sounds reasonable to me
So William’s idea is to ditch royal patronage of many charities (big & small) to focus on a handful of his own pet “initiatives”. At present his biggest pet “initiative” is Earthshot, but does anyone really know what “Earthshot” is & what it has actually achieved?
Because many of us don’t have a clue what Earthshot is, beyond a vague idea it’s something about climate change/sustainable environment. What impact has Earthshot demonstrated? What are its goals/objectives? What has this initiative actually accomplished so far because there’s no regular press coverage pushed by William & his KP courtiers. What are William’s work contribution to Earthshot besides meeting a few A List celebrities like Charlize Theron & handing over some prizes. Most people don’t know what Earthshot is about which is not great, given William is supposed to be promoting it & it’s his big thing.
Get the sense William isn’t passionate about his role or anything really, which is rather sad for a guy who’s so privileged. He’s now middle-aged & still doesn’t want to do any hard work to build a real legacy with lasting impact like Charles with his King’s Trust & Harry with Invictus.
Honest question: does William actually want the role? He sounds like he wants to just be a rich gentleman versus a public servant.
Since becoming Prince of Wales he has done less work, less foreign touring, less diplomacy or missions, just night and day from his father or even his brother when he was in the family.
I understand with Kate’s health that last year he was focused on his family but all we’ve heard from various briefing (and I tend to believe this even though it’s DM because it echoes more reputable reporting) is how much he wants to shrink the role.
He seems to want to pare down the monarchy which is fine but it does have a purpose. His Earthshot prizes are wonderful and his work with the homeless but those charities fund raise and it helps to have a royal patron.
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