Prince’s Trust is renamed the King’s Trust – meaning it is unlikely William or Harry will take over Charles’ charity for now
- As Prince of Wales, Charles set up Prince’s Trust; Prince’s Foundation and PWCF
- But organisations’ names have been updated one week before his 75th birthday
The Prince’s Trust has been renamed the King’s Trust, Buckingham Palace revealed today – meaning William and Harry are unlikely to take over Charles’s charity for now.
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, royal officials announced that the organisations’ names have been updated to become The King’s Trust, The King’s Foundation and King Charles III Charitable Fund.
The palace said the King’s long-standing charities had been rebranded in recognition of his accession to the throne. The Trust helps young people aged 11 to 30 get into jobs, education and training – and its beneficiaries have included The Wire and Luther actor Idris Elba, who used a £1,500 grant from it to help start his career.
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.
King Charles during a visit to New Malden Methodist Church in South West London yesterday
Princes William and Harry, pictured together outside St Paul’s Cathedral in December 2017
Charles meets Ant and Dec at the Prince’s Trust Awards at London’s Theatre Royal in May 2022
Charles meets Steps after a concert for The Prince’s Trust at London’s Hyde Park in July 1999
Charles with Atomic Kitten at a gig for The Prince’s Trust at London’s Hyde Park in July 1999
Charles talks with Boyzone after a concert in aid of the Prince’s Trust in London in 1998
Charles poses for photographs with young people taking part in Prince’s Trust activities during a visit to Surrey County Cricket Club at the Kia Oval in Kennington, London, in January 2013
But William is paving his own way as the new heir to the throne, focusing on homelessness and mental health.
READ MORE King Charles enjoys affectionate moment with refugees who fled Nazis as children on WW2 Kindertransport
On Wednesday, 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 California with his wife Meghan Markle having quit as a working royal in 2020.
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.
The Prince of Wales meets Beyonce Knowles at a Royal Albert Hall concert for the Prince’s Trust in October 2003
Amal Clooney and George Clooney speak to Charles as they attend a dinner to celebrate The Prince’s Trust at Buckingham Palace in March 2019
Charles meets Danny Dyer at the Prince’s Trust Awards at the London Palladium in March 2019
Charles meets Lionel Richie and Sir Tom Jones at a Prince’s Trust event in Barbados in 2019
Charles with Phillip Schofield and Fearne Cotton at the Prince’s Trust Awards in London in 2019
Charles with Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and Chico at a Clarence House reception for those involved in a concert celebrating the 30th birthday of the Prince’s Trust in May 2006
King Charles III meets Idris Elba in London on October 18. The Prince’s Trust beneficiaries have included The Wire and Luther actor, who used a £1,500 grant from it to help start his career
The Prince of Wales meets singer Geri Horner during the Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards at the London Palladium in London in March 2016
A spokesperson for the Trust said: ‘We are pleased to announce that we will become The King’s Trust.
READ MORE William vows to ‘go a step further’ than his family and ‘actually bring change’ to good causes
‘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 Trust has operated outside of the UK since 2015, delivering programmes across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East through Prince’s Trust International.
It also has branches in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
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.
Charles hides his face as magician Dynamo appears to break a finger and put it back in place at Clarence House during a reception for Prince’s Trust job ambassadors in June 2013
Charles with Tinie Tempah at the Prince’s Trust Awards at the London Palladium in March 2019
Charles meets Hugh Dennis and Kate Garraway at a Prince’s Trust Awards event at St James’s Palace in London in October 2021
Charles with Cheryl Cole at the Celebrate Success awards at The Odeon Leicester Square in London in March 2011 – an event for those thriving after being helped by the Prince’s Trust
Charles s jokes with Kate Thornton (left) and Cat Deeley, two of the presenters of The Prince’s Trust 30th Birthday: Live, at a Clarence House reception for the event in May 2016
Charles meets Blazin Squad members at a concert for the Prince’s Trust at Hyde Park in 2003
Charles with former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell after the Prince’s Trust Comedy Gala at the Lyceum Theatre in London in October 1998
Charles meets the girl band All Saints in a concert for the Prince’s Trust in July 1998
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.
READ MORE Revealed: The sweet detail in TK Maxx’s Christmas advert that’s a nod to the Prince’s Trust
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 £70million over nearly five decades, and receives most of its income from the Waitrose Duchy Organic brand, established by Charles in 1992.
Source: Read Full Article