King Charles III has longstanding links to the charity sector, setting up 20 himself and acting as patron for more than 400 others.
He has also made personal donations, and advocated for causes on behalf of a number of charities, including those with causes relating to the environment, rural communities, town planning, the arts, healthcare and education.
However, several charities linked to the king have also been under scrutiny from the Charity Commission in recent years, after concerns have been highlighted in the national media.
Metropolitan Police announced this week that its investigation into the Prince’s Foundation, founded by King Charles, into cash-for-honours claims has closed and it would take no further action.
Nonetheless, other investigations into charities linked to the king are ongoing.
King Charles announced that he would be less involved in charitable activities when he took up his duties as head of state following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In his first public address as British monarch, the king said that his life will now be different and that “it will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply”.
However, we have yet to see what this means in practical terms, with few announcements made by charities connected to the king or the late queen since his ascension to the throne.
Charities founded by the king
As Prince of Wales, Charles advocated for a number of charities and set up more than 20 charities over 40 years, including the Prince’s Trust, Prince’s Foundation and Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF).
This year, PWCF also announced support for seven charities that carry out work around environmental sustainability and social inclusion. The charity, established by King Charles, has donated over £73m since it was established in 1979.
The seven charities chosen were Plantlife International, Practical Action, the Wildlife Trusts, Age Scotland, Carers Trust, BIGKID Foundation and Omega. The king also made “a substantial personal donation” to support hundreds of food banks across the UK this year.
Earlier this year, the Prince’s Countryside Fund, a charity founded by the king to support family farms and rural communities, become the Royal Countryside Fund.
Its new name has been approved by the king and is the first of his charities to undergo this transition since his coronation.
Investigations
Though the Metropolitan Police announced this week that its investigation into the Prince’s Foundation, founded by King Charles, has closed, it remains under scrutiny by the Scottish charity regulator OSCR.
Charity Commission statutory inquiries into the Mahfouz Foundation and connected charity the Burke’s Peerage Foundation also remain ongoing.
The regulator for England and Wales revealed that it had been engaging with trustees at the Mahfouz Foundation since September 2021, when the Sunday Times first published claims that it had received donations intended for the Prince’s Foundation.
Its inquiry is examining whether the Mahfouz Foundation received these donations as alleged, how the money has been used, and whether or not it should be returned to the donor or another charity.
The Burke’s Peerage Foundation was established to advance education in the subject of genealogy and personal heritage, and the Commission has been in touch with its trustees after identifying links with the Mahfouz Foundation.
Meanwhile, the Commission removed an organisation set up by King Charles called Children and the Arts from its register after it stopped operating last year.
The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) also faced scrutiny last year, with the Commission deciding to take no further action after it looked into reports of a donation of about £2.5m in cash.
This year, the Guardian also reported that King Charles has been urged to intervene after the Prince’s Trust said it would pay compensation of just £2,000 each to child survivors of sexual abuse.
The settlement was offered to hundreds of British children who were removed from working-class families or care homes by the UK government and sent to “farm schools” in Australia and Canada and then suffered sexual abuse. The Prince’s Trust is legally liable for the claims as it took over Fairbridge charity in 2012.
Though the police investigation has now closed, the outcomes of the regulators’ inquiries are yet to be made public, and could mark a turning point in the king’s involvement in the charities he has previously funded, or been linked to in other ways.
Patronages
Following the king’s accession, the Royal Household is conducting a review of the patronages he and other royals hold.
The review covers the organisations of which Queen Elizabeth II was patron and those organisations to which King Charles and Queen Camilla were connected through patronage or presidency as Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
King Charles was, as the Prince of Wales, patron of over 420 charities and Queen Elizabeth had around 600 patronages, many of which were charities.
It is unclear how patronages are decided or how they are passed between royals. It seems that the royals decide amongst themselves
Giving Evidence previously published research which said it found no evidence that royals bring revenue to their patronagee charities, and also found no reason to assume that a charity with a royal patronage outperforms its peers.
Prince Andrew notoriously also stepped back from his public duties and from all his 60 patronages of UK registered charities.
The king is likely to inherit some patronages from his late mother and pass a few of his current positions onto others.
With the role of royal patrons being scrutinised, it is possible the king may reduce his roles overall.
However, he is a keen supporter of many causes, so it seems likely that he will continue to hold a fair few patronages.
Volunteering
A festival of volunteering was also set up to mark King Charles’s coronation, with the Big Help Out trying to get more people involved in charities.
More than 850 volunteers, charity and community representatives were invited to the service in Westminster Abbey.
Organisers of the Big Help Out aim to make it an annual event, but it remains to be seen whether response from the public will be as high when not tied to the coronation.
The king and queen consort also nominated 200 young people involved with two charities he founded – the Prince’s Trust and the Prince’s Foundation – as well as Barnardo’s, the National Literacy Trust and Ebony Horse Club.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, often referred to as an MBE for charities, was renamed the King’s Award for Voluntary Service earlier this year.
Therefore, the king may focus his charitable attentions on the role of volunteering, perhaps moving away from more formal engagement in charities.
We may also see the king speak up on specific issues, such as immigration and the environment, as he marks his first year on the throne on 8 September.
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