The Queen and other Members of the Royal Family lend their names and much of their time to many different charities and organisations. Currently, over 3,000 organisations list a member of the Royal Family as their patron or president. These range from well-known charities such as the British Red Cross to new, smaller charities like the Reedham Children's Trust, to regiments in the Armed Forces

Members of the Royal Family have links with hundreds of charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations. Some are well known, while others may be smaller bodies working in a very specialist area or on a local basis only.

Having a Royal patron or president provides vital publicity for the work of these organisations, and allows their enormous achievements and contributions to society to be recognised.

Every member of the Royal Family receives hundreds of requests each year from organisations asking for their support. Royal patronages add status to an organisation, and visits and involvement from a Royal Patron can often bring much needed publicity.

For this reason, members of the Royal Family tend to limit their patronages to a manageable number to ensure that they can give each organisation a significant amount of their time. The exceptions to this are The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh who hold over a thousand Patronages between them, many of which were inherited from previous Monarchs.

The Queen’s patronage carries the most weight, and Her Majesty receives the most requests for patronages of all the members of the Royal Family.


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