King Charles III Pays Tribute to His Mother Queen Elizabeth II With New Role
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of King Charles III’s coronation on May 6, the royal family has announced which causes will still receive royal patronages from the King, his wife, Queen Camilla, and other royals, who are taking on some of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s causes.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The tradition of patronages, where a royal supports charities, military associations, professional bodies, or public service organizations, dates back to the reign of George II in the 1700s, according to the royal family’s social media.
“Royal patronage highlights the vital work of these organizations and allows their many achievements and valuable contributions to society to be more widely recognised and promoted,” the royal family said in its May 4 announcement.
Some of the patronages are in the U.K. and others in the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries, almost all which were formerly under British colonial rule. Causes run the gamut from military to education, the arts, and wildlife––supporting dogs, horse racing, heritage crafts, the Welsh National Opera, Scottish Highland Games, and more.
When Charles became King in September 2022 after his mother died, the Palace reviewed more than 1,000 royal patronages. After that review, the King and Queen will support more than 800 charities and organizations, the royal family announced.
The late Queen was patron of 492 charities when she died, and her family will retain 376 of those. That includes the King as patron of the Royal British Legion, a charity supporting the military, which his mother supported from 1952 to 2022. Before ascending the throne, Charles, as Prince of Wales, supported 441 organizations, and has kept or passed along 367 to family members.
The King and Queen will also keep supporting causes they did before they assumed their current titles. That includes the King’s interest in environmentalism, with continued patronages for The Wildlife Trusts, a grassroots nature organization, and the Commonwealth Forestry Association, which promotes conservation and sustainable management of the world’s forests.
The King will also stay president of clean water NGO WaterAid, a position he’s held since 1991. In a statement, WaterAid U.K.’s chief executive Tim Wainwright said the charity was “extremely grateful and honoured” that Charles would continue his relationship, which has “played a hugely significant role over the past three decades in supporting WaterAid’s vision.”
“His Majesty The King is a driving force for good on critical global issues such as climate change and sustainability,” Wainwright said. “The climate crisis is a water crisis, with droughts drying up springs and wells, and storms and floods damaging infrastructure and contaminating fragile water sources. We work tirelessly with communities to help provide weather-proof water systems and toilets. We know with the enduring dedication and ambition of His Majesty to connect the world to act, we will end the water, sanitation and hygiene crisis together.”
TIME reached out to Buckingham Palace for more information about the patronages.
King Charles, 75, returned to public-facing duties on April 30 after taking a step back to receive treatment following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis in February.