Charles keeps his major charities close with King name rebranding

The King’s long-standing charities have been rebranded in recognition of his accession to the throne, Buckingham Palace has announced.

As the Prince of Wales, Charles set up the youth charity the Prince’s Trust; the Prince’s Foundation, which promotes the built environment, heritage, culture and education projects; and the grant-giving Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF).

But 14 months after he became monarch and a week ahead of his 75th birthday, the palace announced the organisations’ names have been updated to become The King’s Trust, The King’s Foundation and King Charles III Charitable Fund.

Charles once spoke of his hope his two sons William and Harry, now the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, would take over the Prince’s Trust, which he set up with his Navy severance pay in 1976.

But William is paving his own way as the new heir to the throne, focusing on homelessness and mental health.

Earlier this week, William said he wanted to “go a step further” than his family and bring real change to the causes he supports.

Speaking to journalists on the last day of his visit to Singapore for the Earthshot Prize awards, William praised the royal family’s work “spotlighting” causes, but said he wanted to do more than just be a patron.

Harry, amid continued fractures in family relations after his Netflix documentary and autobiography Spare, is living thousands of miles away in the US having quit as a working royal.

The switch in name to The King’s Trust means the monarch will be keeping this charity and the two other organisations firmly under his wing, despite the demands of his role as King.

He launched the trust to help disadvantaged young people overcome challenging circumstances, get into employment or launch their own businesses and it has become one of the UK’s leading youth organisations.

It has helped nearly one million young people to date and its celebrity ambassadors include singer Cheryl, former Spice Girl Geri Horner and presenters Ant and Dec.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We are pleased to announce that we will become The King’s Trust.

“The evolution of our name enables us to retain proximity to our founder, His Majesty The King, reflecting his continued dedication to our work since 1976.

“As we work towards this change over the coming months, we will continue to support young people and communities who face disadvantage and adversity to access employment, education and training, in the UK and around the world.”

The changes also give something of a fresh start to the former Prince’s Foundation in the wake of the cash-for-honours allegations.

The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in February 2022 following a series of newspaper articles accusing Michael Fawcett, formerly the foundation’s chief executive and a close confidant of the King, of promising to help a Saudi billionaire donor achieve British citizenship and a knighthood.

Detectives investigating the claims announced in August that they were taking no further action.

The foundation, run from Dumfries House in Ayrshire and which promotes the built environment, heritage, culture and education projects, was formed as part of a reorganisation of 21 of Charles’s charities in the year he turned 70.

Its recent initiatives have included a Winter Warmers drive with free hot drinks and soup and craft activities at Charles’s country estate Highgrove to help combat loneliness and the cost-of-living crisis.

It also collaborated on a luxury fashion line with Yoox Net-A-Porter – as part of its Modern Artisan project, which gives students from the UK and Italy the chance to design and make the sustainable line of outfits as part of a textiles skills training initiative.

The King Charles III Charitable Fund, funded in 1979, awards grants to non-profit organisations under the core themes of heritage and conservation, education, health and wellbeing, social inclusion, environment and countryside.

It has awarded funding of more than £70 million over nearly five decades, and receives most of its income from the Waitrose Duchy Organic brand, established by Charles in 1992.

Published: 10/11/2023 by Radio NewsHub