Royals and Charity Work - Quality and Quantity

[GlitteringTiaras]

Do you do charity work in your own community?

Yup, I sure do. Plus I donate money throughout the year to various charities as well as to museums.

[Emmily]

Originally Posted by dee4855

There seems to be so much made of the royals and the charity work they do, or lack of it according to some that feel they are not doing enough.

There was a question on why CP Mary was smiling at a cancer event. Being a cancer victim/survivor I do not think smiling is wrong to do. We are not dead, we just have cancer. We still enjoy smiling and laughing. Cancer is not our entire life. Just a small blip in our life plans.

There has also been questions on how they dress for the events they attend. I find it wonderful of them to support and endorse these events. I am sure they will dress how they feel it is necessary for whatever event they are attending. Seeing Mary playing with the kids and having a good time is not in anyway out of line. She needs to be applauded for her time and effort in helping others. She dressed down for the kids. For the other events she dresses how a royal princess supporting her country should dress supporting a charity or foundation she believes in.

Great thread! And I agree with you on the post that was made about Mary smiling at a cancer event. I was recently diagnosed with cancer and had major surgery last month. I have done enough crying over this and love to be able to smile and laugh. Good to see Mary doing it as well at this event! I also do volunteer work at schools and church and support orphanages in Haiti.

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by Emmily

Great thread! And I agree with you on the post that was made about Mary smiling at a cancer event. I was recently diagnosed with cancer and had major surgery last month. I have done enough crying over this and love to be able to smile and laugh. Good to see Mary doing it as well at this event! I also do volunteer work at schools and church and support orphanages in Haiti.

Emmily, I hope that you keep smiling through all your illness. Laughter is a wonderful healer.

[dee4855]

Emmily, good luck honey with your battle. If you need an ear I am here for you. Just send me a PM. I do charity work too and love it. Of course what I do is nothing compared to what CP Mary does. There is nothing better than to give back to someone else. My all time favorite is Special Olympics. I do so adore those kids. The younger ones and the older ones. My hubby and I support many animal charities. Sadly I cannot work at them or we would have a house full of animals.

[Emmily]

Thank you Winnie and dee4855. My prognosis is good, but it is beyond terrifying to get that call from the dr. Yes, laughter is the best medicine. One's mental outlook is key. Thanks again for the well wishes!

[Odette]

Dee4855 and Emmily good luck to both of you. Keep your chins up and your hopes high. I agree with everything that has been said above.

[dee4855]

Originally Posted by Odette

Dee4855 and Emmily good luck to both of you. Keep your chins up and your hopes high. I agree with everything that has been said above.

Thank you so very much for your kind wishes. My heart goes out to Emmily just starting her battle. It will be OK darlin just keep that faith and laughter and know there are so many that care!

[Drottning]

Dee and Emmily, may the two of you be strong and brave. Odette said everything that I would have said and I agree with her. Keep your heads up.

[GlitteringTiaras]

I don't mean to sound incredibly insensitve, and believe me I feel bad for requesting this, when it comes to people living with Cancer (my mother had Ovarian Cancer and many of my relatives had other forms of Cancer as well. Unfortunately, they all lost their battle with this horrific disease); however, I believe we should try re-focus on Dee's main question at hand: Royals and their charity work as well as your own contributions.

Thank you.

[Drottning]

I love the ASPCA. I've seen some cases of animal abuse and it breaks my heart there are people out there doing such horrendous acts of cruelty to such innocent creatures. It makes me so angry!!

[sylla]

I always wince a little when people call it charity "work". Do any of the posters know if Royals do more than make an appearance? Something that could actually be called work? An argument is always made that they bring about "awareness". But, let's be honest, who amongst us has not heard of aids, poverty, brain tumors etc etc.?

Haakon and M-M were in toronto for an aids conference. The money that was spent on that trip (first-class flight, luxury accomodations, body guards...) could have kept an aids hospital or orphanage well-stocked with needed supplies for months!!! I think these causes and charity works are more to make the royals look good and compassionate than to actually fulfill a real need.

[Winnie]

sylla, I do certainly agree with you that many times all the travel expenses you sited should be spent on the charity. I also believe that "charity begins at home" and ones own country should be taken care of first. I also don't like the "charity work" phrase whereas a volunteer is kinder. I believe that anyone that volunteers either his time, money or prayers to his personal charity is doing good.

A person does not have to leave their own country to make a statement. Satellite hook ups, internet connections and large screens are used everyday in very important meetings all over the corporate world -- so much cheaper and immediate gratification.

Like all of us, the royals tend to overspend on things that they want to -- including travel -- when it actually isn't needed in the overall scheme of things.

[Lilla]

Originally Posted by Winnie

sylla, I do certainly agree with you that many times all the travel expenses you sited should be spent on the charity. I also believe that "charity begins at home" and ones own country should be taken care of first. I also don't like the "charity work" phrase whereas a volunteer is kinder. I believe that anyone that volunteers either his time, money or prayers to his personal charity is doing good.

A person does not have to leave their own country to make a statement. Satellite hook ups, internet connections and large screens are used everyday in very important meetings all over the corporate world -- so much cheaper and immediate gratification.

Like all of us, the royals tend to overspend on things that they want to -- including travel -- when it actually isn't needed in the overall scheme of things.

It would be very nice if all traveling-expences could go to charity instead. But sometimes making money takes spending money. If a royal person - or a celebrity for that sake - shall attract the people and firms who has got the big money and can afford to donate large sums, it has do be done with a cirtain stile.

When it comes to travelling to other countries I think this can do a lot of good. Prince Joachim is patron of CARE Denmark and has primarily managed to draw the attention to this organisation by visiting the people in need - in the countries where they live. The same goes for Countess Alexandra when she was a princess.

And me - well unfurturnatly I am not one of those people with the big money so I have to do my charity by the means available for the likes of me. I donate a sum monthly to SOS Kinderdorfen and to the red cross. Besides from that I donate sumes to homless people, cancerresearch and animal welfare - but not on a regular basis.

[norwegianne]

I think that no matter if they do it at home or abroad - too much, or too little - appearance or getting their hands dirty - the important thing is that they do something.

As Lilla mentioned, famous people (royals or non-royals) are good for drawing attention to causes. Some of the causes we might know about even if they didn't do it, others might be more obscure. For example, I had clearly heard about Aids prior to Mette-Marit's engagement of the subject, but I still find the stories from her trips abroad interesting, and a reminder that not everybody is as fortunate as myself. On the other hand I had never heard of Care Denmark before Prince Joachim went on his trip to Cambodia, but I've since then done some research on the organization, and I've become interested in it.

The Norwegian royals are also frequently the patrons of the charity telethons in Norway, which also is one way to get the attention.

Similarly, Märtha Louise's trip to Madagascar in May for Unicef, helped put focus on the illiteracy problem in that country.

In addition to appearing at events, you also have the Dutch royals, who partake in Make a Difference day, where they volunteer for a charity for a day. An interesting concept.

There's also various royal foundations, that hands out money to various charities. EG. The Norwegian couple's humanitarian fund have given money to charities and projects both in Norway and abroad.

During my teens, we used to have solidarity projects at school where we would work one day a year, instead of going to school, to make money for various charities. Unfortunately, I have to admit that since leaving school (and my parents' house) and starting a "career" as a student, I've become less good at donating sums for the global charities. Instead I've been volunteering in various capacities in my local area, where it might be needed.

[wyattmtthws]

I know exactly how everyone feels. And I agree with those comments, especially to de4855.

Charity work, perhaps, is one of the Royal responsibilities. Anyone, even a royalty, could be selfish enough but still have to do charity work because it is something that his/her people has to look up to with them...

But there is a difference between someone doing a responsibility and someone doing with sincerity. And I'm glad Mary and some royalty like her has been doing it, not only because it is a responsibility, but mainly because they are happy and satisfied doing it sincerely...for the love. de4855 has made her point well...very well said. :)

[marmi]

Originally Posted by dee4855

There seems to be so much made of the royals and the charity work they do, or lack of it according to some that feel they are not doing enough.

This is similar to the discussion of whether the royals do enough work at all. And I still feel that this is one of the facets of royalty that we will never be able to specifically 'quantify'. It does lead to some interesting discussions though

Originally Posted by norwegianne

In addition to appearing at events, you also have the Dutch royals, who partake in Make a Difference day, where they volunteer for a charity for a day. An interesting concept.

...

During my teens, we used to have solidarity projects at school where we would work one day a year, instead of going to school, to make money for various charities...

I have always liked the "Make a difference day" because it provides a singular opportunity to bring attention a large number of varied charities or causes at the same time. I also like the rather idyllic thought that it is possible that a royal will be 'struck' by their cause of the day, and take it further...

My school ran a similar program, it also had other opportunities to give to charity: opportunities for senior students to sell poppies, daffodils for cancer to day etc; we also wore a uniform to school every day, but about 8 times a year we were able to wear 'mufti' to school, provided that we made a gold coin donation and 50% of this money was spent on a project for the students, and the rest went to charity.

[mamoon]

Royals have the unique opportunity to bring attention to charities. Princess Diana was a stellar example of this. Just her presence at an event generated huge interest and media attention.

While I doubt royals do the "nuts and bolts" work for their chosen charities, their contribution is very valuable. Those of us who work behind the scenes with charities are grateful for positive attention brought to them. Any thing to help those causes we're passionate about is a good thing.

Were I a royal, I would be thrilled with the chance to spend my days doing charity work. Spending my days doing something I loved, rather than having to make time for it, would be a joy.

[principessa]

Which royals are engaged in charity for old people, for children, for unemployed people and so on?

[Lovely Lady]

Hello Everyone,

I just joined The Royal Forums yesterday. I stumbled across it earlier ago in the springtime this year, and was very intrigued by its wealth of historical information, it contains. Instantly I fell in love with it (I am a History Geek.) I finally decided to join and I am really glad I did!

I have noticed that one of the many things that royals do is charity work.
They are able to draw attention to a certain charity, inspiring others to support it like they themselves are doing.

Princess Anne is called a work horse for doing so many engagements a year. While she is well respected for it, how much of herself is she actually contributing to each charity she is a patron of? Is it good for a member of the royal family to contribute to so many charities Individually?

The late Diana Princess of Wales, after her divorce, only had maybe five or six charities she supported. Yet some say she actually made a greater impact on each of them, because there was only a select few, and she had more time to devote each Charity. Than before when she had a 100+ during her marriage.

My Question is... What matters the most quality or quantity?

Quantity, as in becoming a patron of a greater number of charities

or

Quality, as in being able to have a smaller amount of charities, to devote a greater amount of time, energy and, effort to each one.

I would love to hear what you think.

[roseroyal]

I think quality for sure. More personal that way. This is a big change of heart for I used to think quantity .
I would rather have a few William and Kate engagements where they really share their people skills , their qualities, and do whatever needs to be done to show those- even if it means going outside protocol- and really truly make a difference to the lives of the people they meet- then lots of " mere royal appearances" for my sake to admire the Duchess's new evening gown.
I guess Iv'e changed my mind about what matters.