The Royal Foundation of Duke & Duchess of Cambridge and Duke & Duchess of Sussex

[HereditaryPrincess]

One of my mother's friends who used to work with her now works (or now worked) for Meghan at the Royal Foundation, so we're all interested to see whether she'll be "handed over" to Catherine at the RF or if she'll work with Meghan at her new charitable foundation with Harry. It'll be interesting to see where the Sussex staff will go or if they'll not be able to keep their jobs.

 

[suztav]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people want to perpetuate the notion that the separation of the Foundation is due to sibling discord and spousal bitchyness. My question is why was the joint Foundation ever created in the first place?! Charles and his siblings never had a joint Foundation.

People—- get a life!

 

[victor1319]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people want to perpetuate the notion that the separation of the Foundation is due to sibling discord and spousal bitchyness.

There were even some efforts by the press to make a brand of the Cambridges and Sussexes as the "fab four"... Well, me thinks, this will be over now!

 

[TLLK]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people want to perpetuate the notion that the separation of the Foundation is due to sibling discord and spousal bitchyness

For the print and digital media it attracts readers and earns revenue.

 

[Dman]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people want to perpetuate the notion that the separation of the Foundation is due to sibling discord and spousal bitchyness. My question is why was the joint Foundation ever created in the first place?! Charles and his siblings never had a joint Foundation.

People—- get a life!

Because Kensington Palace and both couples didn’t handle the optics well. Also, if Harry had diverged from the Foundation after the wedding and he and Meghan had started to set up their own charitable foundation, I think the transition would’ve been smoother and without all the press hoopla. Instead, Meghan was made patron of the Royal Foundation after the wedding and it appeared the four of them would take the foundation to another level by working together under one umbrella.

 

[Marlo]

The devil will be in the details. As with everything to do with Harry and Meghan, there’s the issue of funding and who’s footing the bill.

None of The Queen’s children have foundations aside from Charles. It really doesn’t make sense to create a new entity for the 6th in line to the throne.

It makes complete sense from the Cambridge perspective to have The Royal Foundation focusing solely on them but it’ll be interesting to see what shape the Sussexes new ‘Foundation’ takes on.

Well, Charles’s siblings have their own charitable foundations.

The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust

The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust makes donations to charitable bodies where The Duke has a particular link or interest. This includes charities focused on supporting young people, sensory and healthcare issues, science, technology and engineering, and the participation of the disabled and wounded servicemen and women in sporting activities.

https://thedukeofyork.org/about-the-duke/prince-andrew-charitable-trust/

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers was created on the initiative of Anne, Princess Royal in the UK in 1991.[1] At that time people caring at home for family members or friends with disabilities and chronic illnesses were scarcely recognised as requiring support.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Royal_Trust_for_Carers

The Wessex Youth Trust: The Charity of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex

The Wessex Youth Trust was set up in 1999 shortly before the wedding of HRH The Prince Edward and Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones. It was established to help, support and advance registered charities which provide opportunities specifically for children and young people.

https://wessexyouthtrust.org.uk

 

[jacqui24]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people want to perpetuate the notion that the separation of the Foundation is due to sibling discord and spousal bitchyness. My question is why was the joint Foundation ever created in the first place?! Charles and his siblings never had a joint Foundation.

People—- get a life!

The Foundation was really set up initially to handle the charitable endeavors of two princes that had other jobs. That’s why it made sense since neither did enough to have their own full time staff. Entirely different situation now. Just like Andrew and Edward shared a Private Secretary once upon a time, but eventually had to get their own staff.

 

[Madame Verseau]

This was put up on Omid Scobie's Twitter


https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a28125314/meghan-markle-prince-harry-new-foundation/

Nice to see a positive story from this.

 

[Dman]

Itv Video Report

Sky News Video Report

 

[Marchesina]

Am I the only one who thinks this is only normal? William is going to have an entire different role than Harry in the coming years. He will fund himself and his charities, Harry will be under the wing of his father, economically speaking.
Charles never had a joint foundation with his siblings, I believe that a few years ago, when the Royal Foundation was established, it was because the two princes were unmarried and working part time in the family firm.

 

[Dman]

Am I the only one who thinks this is only normal? William is going to have an entire different role than Harry in the coming years. He will fund himself and his charities, Harry will be under the wing of his father, economically speaking.
Charles never had a joint foundation with his siblings, I believe that a few years ago, when the Royal Foundation was established, it was because the two princes were unmarried and working part time in the family firm.

Well, it’s not the biggest deal in the world. The Cambridge’s and Sussex’s will be alright. They’re big people and they will go on to do great things with their foundations. It’s just obvious the plan was for all four to work under the Royal Foundation. Something broke down behind the scenes and it was later decided that it’s best to part ways from under the Royal Foundation umbrella.

If the whole thing was about William’s preparation for his future royal roles as Prince of Wales and King, the palace would’ve made that clear pretty early on. Meghan wouldn’t have become the Foundation’s patron and Harry would’ve split from the Foundation after the wedding.

It appears like everyone (Kensington Palace officials and both royal couples) were stuck between a rock and a hard place due to the sensitivity of the situation. Stuck between wanting to maintain privacy, but then not knowing how to diplomatically address the issues with the press. Although the press kinda picked up on the notion that all wasn’t well behind the palace walls.

So everything was handled badly. No doubt about that.

 

[Marchesina]

I can agree that maybe at first there was the idea of working as a team until William would become POW, but I think eventually they all came to realize their modus operandi and their goals were different. While the Cambridges are more institutionally bound, the Sussexes are not, and it reflects on their activity with charities. Hence the later split.

 

[muriel]

There has been quite a lot of comment about the “split” of the Foundation. Just some of my thoughts:

• At one level, I am sad to see the split. To me, it is clear that this was not the grand design, and it was intended that the 4 would work together in the medium term. If that was not the case, Meghan would not have joined the foundation, or the communication from KP at the time of the wedding would have been different.

• Be that as it may, if the family has come to the view that working closely together may not work for them, I am glad they have moved decidedly and swiftly to separate the two.

• As some posters have pointed out, I remain concerned about “rival” Foundations from the BRF, and if they may get in the way of each other’s fund raising. I hope they can work out a workable path between themselves.

• Causes as to why things within the family have so quickly come to such a point could be many. Personally, I do not see much point in speculating on these causes as none of us really know what is going on. However, that Meghan grew up without any siblings and a broader family around her, pursued a career that was about her individual performance and not a team effort (not a criticism, but just a statement of fact) would suggest she probably found it difficult to adjust to the environment. William, Harry and Catherine had clearly been able to work well beforehand.

 

[BaiSoSo]

There has been quite a lot of comment about the “split” of the Foundation. Just some of my thoughts:

• At one level, I am sad to see the split. To me, it is clear that this was not the grand design, and it was intended that the 4 would work together in the medium term. If that was not the case, Meghan would not have joined the foundation, or the communication from KP at the time of the wedding would have been different.

• Be that as it may, if the family has come to the view that working closely together may not work for them, I am glad they have moved decidedly and swiftly to separate the two.

• As some posters have pointed out, I remain concerned about “rival” Foundations from the BRF, and if they may get in the way of each other’s fund raising. I hope they can work out a workable path between themselves.

• Causes as to why things within the family have so quickly come to such a point could be many. Personally, I do not see much point in speculating on these causes as none of us really know what is going on. However, that Meghan grew up without any siblings and a broader family around her, pursued a career that was about her individual performance and not a team effort (not a criticism, but just a statement of fact) would suggest she probably found it difficult to adjust to the environment. William, Harry and Catherine had clearly been able to work well beforehand.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the last bullet. Meghan may not have had siblings around but that doesn't mean she didn't know how to get along with others. Quite the opposite she hasn't been told her whole life how she is going to be Queen (or a consort) and just be able to wait around for it; she had to go out and learn how to make things happen.

• Her parents made sure she know how privileged she was from a young age and how she could help others. (Volunteering by age 11-12 and continuing on to adulthood)

•She was part of a successful ensemble show in which no one seems to have a bad thing to say about her. In fact they talked about how she was the one to have an idea and work hard to see it through to fruition. (Making sure that the extra food on set didn’t go to waste…and finding a way to give it to others who needed it)

•She had the creative skills and knew what it was like to work with others to create a successful brand in the The Tig, from scratch.

•Partnering with UN to bring things like fresh water, other needs to women and people around the world.

None of that says the she doesn’t know how to work with others, just look at the reception she gets from her projects and patronages, we know that she meets with them in private, asks how she can get involved and makes a plan to either fundraise and/or support the cause. These are all qualities that would be helpful in creating/maintaining a foundation.

 

[Curryong]

Or maybe Harry, widely perceived by the media and others as being a 'third wheel' (though he wasn't) when out and about with the Cambridges on some Royal Foundation engagements, decided he didn't want that any more of that for himself or for his wife. He and Meghan obviously want to move on. I don't see why the split should be laid at the door of one person.

As for not fitting in to a team effort situation, Meghan worked in fact for seven years as a member of a cast of a TV show. There were no complaints about her not fitting in with them. IMO there are few professions in which people never rely on others and acting certainly isn't one of them. Being in a cast on TV, the stage or in film in fact very much relies on cooperating and interacting with crew and your fellow performers.

Another view of why the split occurred.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainme...n/news-story/34e7afb20506e081ca8251fcd2271abb

 

[ACO]

Well from a reporter’s perspective we have Richard Palmer expressing why he doesn’t believe the official statement from KP. And he implies he doesn’t think it was pushed by the Sussexes to split. This has been expressed by others in the media as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1142012224204156928

Regardless who pushed for it, it has happened and now we have two separate foundations coming. They will just join the others of the royal family (as pointed upthread) who have set things up in their name. It will be what it is. Hopefully this split works out well for everyone

 

[Dman]

Or maybe Harry, widely perceived by the media and others as being a 'third wheel' (though he wasn't) when out and about with the Cambridges on some Royal Foundation engagements, decided he didn't want that any more of that for himself or for his wife. He and Meghan obviously want to move on. I don't see why the split should be laid at the door of one person.

As for not fitting in to a team effort situation, Meghan worked in fact for seven years as a member of a cast of a TV show. There were no complaints about her not fitting in with them. IMO there are few professions in which people never rely on others and acting certainly isn't one of them. Being in a cast on TV, the stage or in film in fact very much relies on cooperating and interacting with crew and your fellow performers.

Another view of why the split occurred.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainme...n/news-story/34e7afb20506e081ca8251fcd2271abb

Unfortunately, Meghan, has had to take many hits on the chin for how things have gone down. I think this was between the brothers and perhaps even staff.

I think Richard Palmer is right.

 

[Ista]

I agree with Dman that the whole split has been very poorly handled, and that the way it has been handled points to some significant reason that it was decided that separate foundations made more sense. My best guess would be, based on the joking/not joking references made when the Cambridges and Meghan and Harry appeared together to promote the foundation, that there may have been a basic disagreement among the four parties in the future direction, at which point it would have become obvious that it would be necessary to separate.

I found Richard Palmer's take very interesting, and much less hyperbole laden than most of the speculation that's been floating around. Long term I think the split makes sense, but it was clearly not the original plan, and the optics are not the greatest.

 

[Erin9]

I agree with Dman that the whole split has been very poorly handled, and that the way it has been handled points to some significant reason that it was decided that separate foundations made more sense. My best guess would be, based on the joking/not joking references made when the Cambridges and Meghan and Harry appeared together to promote the foundation, that there may have been a basic disagreement among the four parties in the future direction, at which point it would have become obvious that it would be necessary to separate.

I found Richard Palmer's take very interesting, and much less hyperbole laden than most of the speculation that's been floating around. Long term I think the split makes sense, but it was clearly not the original plan, and the optics are not the greatest.

IA with this.

I don’t buy that the original plan was for this to happen now. Why bother having Meghan join the foundation and make it sound like the 4 of them was the plan for the future. There had to be some disagreement direction wise imo.

I do think that long term it makes sense to split given the different roles of the couples. But I don’t think a year ago, they’d planned on this happening now. Something changed.

And the optics don’t look good because it really doesn’t come across as something they’d always intended to have happen. Probably the tension rumors are, to some extent, correct.

 

[Dman]

I agree with Dman that the whole split has been very poorly handled, and that the way it has been handled points to some significant reason that it was decided that separate foundations made more sense. My best guess would be, based on the joking/not joking references made when the Cambridges and Meghan and Harry appeared together to promote the foundation, that there may have been a basic disagreement among the four parties in the future direction, at which point it would have become obvious that it would be necessary to separate.

I found Richard Palmer's take very interesting, and much less hyperbole laden than most of the speculation that's been floating around. Long term I think the split makes sense, but it was clearly not the original plan, and the optics are not the greatest.

Yeah. This wasn’t the plan and the optics fell off the cliff.

I wish both couples well in their foundations, because the work they’re doing is very important and really are making a difference in people’s lives. Though the royal reporters and correspondents will have a good time pitting the foundations against one another and the Cambridge and Sussex bases will become even more divided.

 

[TLLK]

I wholeheartedly disagree with the last bullet. Meghan may not have had siblings around but that doesn't mean she didn't know how to get along with others. Quite the opposite she hasn't been told her whole life how she is going to be Queen (or a consort) and just be able to wait around for it; she had to go out and learn how to make things happen.

• Her parents made sure she know how privileged she was from a young age and how she could help others. (Volunteering by age 11-12 and continuing on to adulthood)

•She was part of a successful ensemble show in which no one seems to have a bad thing to say about her. In fact they talked about how she was the one to have an idea and work hard to see it through to fruition. (Making sure that the extra food on set didn’t go to waste…and finding a way to give it to others who needed it)

•She had the creative skills and knew what it was like to work with others to create a successful brand in the The Tig, from scratch.

•Partnering with UN to bring things like fresh water, other needs to women and people around the world.

None of that says the she doesn’t know how to work with others, just look at the reception she gets from her projects and patronages, we know that she meets with them in private, asks how she can get involved and makes a plan to either fundraise and/or support the cause. These are all qualities that would be helpful in creating/maintaining a foundation.

Would like to also add that Meghan's college experience in Kappa Kappa Gamma would require her to work well with others especially when she chaired their recruitment during one year. Recruitment and the weeks of preparation is definitely the most stress filled and active time period in any National Panhellenic's sorority's calendar. It requires all members to work together and move past any disagreements quickly and smoothly in order to have a successful recruitment of new members.

 

[Erin9]

All 4 of them know have experience in working with others one way or the other. Military experience, Meghan’s prior career, school/class projects in general, the fact that they’re all members of the family “business” and have been for a long time- aside from Meghan etc. None of them have lived their lives in a vacuum where team work wasn’t necessary.

I feel like Meghan is an easy target because she’s the new member of the family. But who really knows what drove this. Could have been a variety of factors.

I understand that they don’t want to publicly state that there were behind the scenes problems, but if they wanted to play the “this was inevitable now” due to both men settling down/their different roles in the family- the time to say that was last year. It’s too late imo to say that and make it seem believable. That was all true last year.

I do hope all goes well with the split and everyone is happier. All 4 are doing important work.

 

[O-H Anglophile]

The thing is, it is not always clear to everyone ahead of time how things are going to work out. They could have had all the intentions in the world of continuing the Foundation in its original form and discovered that for a variety of reasons it was not sustainable.

I think a lot of roles are changing in the Royal Family right now. It really began with the Duke of Edinburgh's retirement and now the Queen herself is passing more of her duties onto Charles and William especially, and then other members of the family. I think William's place in the working family has been elevated and disturbed the balance of things.

 

[Dman]

The thing is, it is not always clear to everyone ahead of time how things are going to work out. They could have had all the intentions in the world of continuing the Foundation in its original form and discovered that for a variety of reasons it was not sustainable.

I think a lot of roles are changing in the Royal Family right now. It really began with the Duke of Edinburgh's retirement and now the Queen herself is passing more of her duties onto Charles and William especially, and then other members of the family. I think William's place in the working family has been elevated and disturbed the balance of things.

Even if that’s the reason which caused the foundation split, it sure wasn’t communicated well and help produced a hell of a lot of PR chaos.

I happen to think the relationship between the bros hit a bump and they decided not to go with the original plan. It’s like we’re now a world apart from what we saw at the foundation forum last year. The brand of the royal “Fab Four” wasn’t just made up. We was going to get that from the Cambridge’s and Sussex’s. That bump threw everything off. I think the lack of joint appearances (outside of family events) between the couples, especially for the foundation, gave us a sense of something wasn’t kosher behind Kensington Palace’s walls.

 

[Osipi]

When things change, things can and do go bump in the night, the unexpected throws monkey wrenches in the works and things need to be adapted to and changed and tailored to fit circumstances.

Its been really just over 13 months ago that Meghan joined the BRF and, at that time, it was deemed a good idea to just include Meghan as a patron of the Royal Foundation as a newlywed and totally new to being a working royal for the "Firm" and in the Royal Foundation's incentives. I do believe that they got more than what they bargained for at first and, IMO, its a compliment to Meghan. They actually got far more than what they bargained for

Meghan is no shrinking violet needed to be pack in bubble wrap and eased into the world of being a working royal. Charles rightly nicknamed her "tungsten" and in just those 13 months since the wedding, Meghan has exhibited the stuff she's made of and has also had her and Harry's first child.

Perhaps the split was always going to happen with the Foundation but not so soon. Give Meghan a time to adapt and adjust first. Perhaps they've found that Meghan (along with Harry) are both ready, eager and willing to step into their future roles 100% and the split was expedited as they were deemed ready to forge ahead on their own.

We'll never really know the hows and whys and underlining reasons going into the future but its happening and I wish both couples overwhelming success with both of their foundations.

The best is yet to come.

 

[Princess Larisa]

Court Circular 19th June:
Kensington Palace

The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, Joint Patrons, the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, this morning held a Trustees’ Meeting at Kensington Palace.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Well, it’s not the biggest deal in the world. The Cambridge’s and Sussex’s will be alright. They’re big people and they will go on to do great things with their foundations. It’s just obvious the plan was for all four to work under the Royal Foundation. Something broke down behind the scenes and it was later decided that it’s best to part ways from under the Royal Foundation umbrella.

If the whole thing was about William’s preparation for his future royal roles as Prince of Wales and King, the palace would’ve made that clear pretty early on. Meghan wouldn’t have become the Foundation’s patron and Harry would’ve split from the Foundation after the wedding.

It appears like everyone (Kensington Palace officials and both royal couples) were stuck between a rock and a hard place due to the sensitivity of the situation. Stuck between wanting to maintain privacy, but then not knowing how to diplomatically address the issues with the press. Although the press kinda picked up on the notion that all wasn’t well behind the palace walls.

So everything was handled badly. No doubt about that.

I agree with this. It seems like a bit of a sudden move, which does, in this case, suggest that something went wrong behind the scenes meaning that both couples no longer could or felt comfortable with working together.

 

[jacqui24]

What's interesting in reading the financial report for The Royal Foundation is the lack of direction, strategy, and forward planning continuously being listed as a risk. And this has been on there well before Meghan's time. So it seems that while the young royals worked on certain issues together, they were off doing their own thing and the foundation just handled their charitable endeavors as it came along.

And reading the specific projects, it's even more discerning. Only Endeavour Funds, Together, and IG are self sufficient projects. Many other initiatives had shortfalls and needed funds moved from elsewhere to cover it.

It seems to be an on-going problem. Perhaps the different direction is more couples seeing different way of running things more so than some have more "restrictive" roles. And I wish KP would just come out and say that rather than the wishy washy excuse that doesn't hold with one look at the heir to the throne.

 

[Rudolph]

That’s the whole point of a foundation. If everything was self sufficient there wouldn’t be any need to raise money in the first place.

Sir Keith Mills has tons of experience with this kind of stuff. He helped organise the London Olympics.

Look at the things Prince Charles funds, Exactly projects that otherwise wouldn’t be anywhere without grants.

Harry and Meghan don’t even have private secretaries and yet apparently they’re going to have a brand new foundation up and running by the end of the year with staff and a board of directors. It’ll be interesting bb

 

[Dman]

I agree with this. It seems like a bit of a sudden move, which does, in this case, suggest that something went wrong behind the scenes meaning that both couples no longer could or felt comfortable with working together.

Yeah. Even though I know they’ll be okay, I personally feel a sense of sadness about this foundation separation. I know the four of them would’ve been one powerful force on the royal stage under the umbrella of the Royal Foundation.

Now I know how my parents and grandparents felt when The Temptations and Commodores split.