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

[ghost_night554]

I took this off another forum since I'm too lazy to type it out myself

On Monday Wills hosted a gathering of representatives from multiple charities he and Harry have ties to. Harry was working at RAF Shawbury, so this time Wills was by himself. The last time they had a meeting for their charities forum, Harry was there by himself, and Wills was at work at RAF Shawbury. Here's the link from the Prince of Wales' website:

The Prince of Wales - The Princes' Charities Forum

And a video of chairman William presiding over the meeting.

[Mermaid1962]

Is it just my Canadian ears, or do other people find William hard to understand? He seems to speak very quickly. I could understand the other interviewees much more easily. I also find Harry easier to understand.

[Iluvbertie]

Originally Posted by Mermaid1962

Is it just my Canadian ears, or do other people find William hard to understand? He seems to speak very quickly. I could understand the other interviewees much more easily. I also find Harry easier to understand.

I gave up trying to understand William years ago. He needs to be subtitled I think.

[Opal]

I think he just needs to train himself to slow down a little and enunciate a bit more. Perhaps he's just nervous in front of the camera.

So it looks like he had both the Darwin Centre opening and then this event at Clarence House on Monday. Busy day for him!

[Westminster]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

I gave up trying to understand William years ago. He needs to be subtitled I think.

Yes! He mumbles and is too fast at talking. Should have a bit more training!

[Zonk]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are recognised the world over and they are uniquely placed to help others. The Foundation is the culmination of their charity lives so far and will be the principal vehicle for Their Royal Highnesses' future charitable activities.

The Royal Foundation

[ghost_night554]

I dunno where to put this since this falls under William Harry and now Kate news(since she's now part of the charity as well)
Princes William and Harry appoint Tessa Green, Diana's Lady Charity | Mail Online

[roseroyal]

Originally Posted by ghost_night554

I dunno where to put this since this falls under William Harry and now Kate news(since she's now part of the charity as well)
Princes William and Harry appoint Tessa Green, Diana's Lady Charity | Mail Online

I'll say one thing for Mrs. Green- she has wild fashion sense! In that pic she looks about as thrilled as a tombstone...
Also I think that the causes mentioned in this article for Kate to support sound more up her street than the arts somehow.....

[hkittybaby]

Richard Palmer‏@RoyalReporter
The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry is now The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

Clarence House‏@ClarenceHouse
The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry was formerly The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry

Richard Palmer‏@RoyalReporter
William, Kate and Harry's foundation raised £4.8 million and handed out £1.3 million in its first year, the accounts show.

Link to the new website for The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry
The Royal Foundation

[MichelleQ2]

I like the new website - very cohesive and clean. It seems as though they really are trying to harness their influence into focused directions where they can build upon their efforts. Interesting to see their trustees - a close group of trusted advisors.

[LadyGabrielle]

What a great website. I think it is well done, it is informative and easy to access.

[ghost_night554]

I really like the new website looks great and I'm happy they are continuing to develop this foundation.

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Kate Middleton, Prince William and Harry's princely sum for charity

[Daria_S]

I really like the new website. It's clutter-free and easy to navigate (I can't say much on its' accessibility in terms of screen readers since I don't use them, but from what I can see, there aren't too many graphics to make the site difficult to navigate using something like JAWS). Glad the name now includes Catherine. I know that has been in the works for a while.

[Artemisia]

A bit more about the foundation and its first year here:

First full year of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry

The accounts show that The Foundation has spent over £1.3m on charitable activity in this inaugural year of grant-making. The £1.3m spent during 2011 included administering The Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, identifying and distributing donations to 26 charities on behalf of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Other grants have since been made, and there are plans for future grants – through collaborations and other projects – in the foreseeable future.

The accounts show The Foundation is continuing to build a robust long-term funding base to support projects that draw upon the interests of its Patrons. The growth in income raised in the last financial year includes income from activities related to The Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund and the sale of the official Wedding Programme.

[Kataryn]

For me the name change seems to suggest that it's in fact Catherine who does the actual running of the Foundation on behalf of the Royals. Of course has staff, but at least one out of the three needs to be approachable by the employees. Both William and Harry are working soldiers so it would be difficult for them to do the job properly. of course, important decisions will be made by all of them and minor decisions by staff, but still there needs to be one to coordinate and supervise the actual running of the foundation.

Fo me the name change is the acknowledgement that Catherine in fact is the one working for the Foundation.

Of course this is just speculation, but I really can't see William and Harry doing the job with that little bit of time they have on their hands and I don't believe either, that noone of the three is really involved. That leaves Catherine, who IMHO has always been a good organiser even though she prefers a bit of a backseat when it comes to publizise her efforts.

[Artemisia]

I have to say, that's not the conclusion personally I made from the name change.
The Foundation was up and running before William and Kate's wedding - and William and Harry were both serving officers at the time as well.
To me, the change is acknowledgement Kate will join William and Harry running of the foundation, and perhaps will have more active/visible role.

[EIIR]

I like the website and the name change. I'm totally crap at deciphering royal cyphers unless they're really straight forward (like the one in my avi). Is the foundation's cypher an 'r' and an 'f'? Or am I completely wrong?

[Excalibur]

Originally Posted by EIIR

I like the website and the name change. I'm totally crap at deciphering royal cyphers unless they're really straight forward (like the one in my avi). Is the foundation's cypher an 'r' and an 'f'? Or am I completely wrong?

To me it appears to be a combination of the letters H, W, and C. The base is an 'H' with the loop at the top to incorporate the 'C' and the flourish or swish on the right used to form the 'W'. At least that's what I see. Maybe someone else knows for sure?

[Laura]

Originally Posted by EIIR

I like the website and the name change. I'm totally crap at deciphering royal cyphers unless they're really straight forward (like the one in my avi). Is the foundation's cypher an 'r' and an 'f'? Or am I completely wrong?

Originally Posted by Excalibur

To me it appears to be a combination of the letters H, W, and C. The base is an 'H' with the loop at the top to incorporate the 'C' and the flourish or swish on the right used to form the 'W'. At least that's what I see. Maybe someone else knows for sure?

Like Excalibur, I first thought it could be a combination of the three Royals' initials, but now I think you got it right, EIIR, it does seem to be a lower case r and f, though not easily recognazible at first glance. Pity that there's no info on the cypher in the website.

[EIIR]

Glad I'm not the only one slightly confused by that cypher!

Just been reading through the Foundation's accounts. A few things that are quite interesting:

• Bank of America made a grant to the Foundation, as did several of the media organisations who covered the Royal Wedding.
• The Foundation made a donation to UNICEF of £25,000 to coincide with the Copenhagen visit.
• The Polo match in LA raised funds for the American Friends of the Foundation, not the Foundation itself. The Trustees' report describes this event as 'one of the most successful Polo events staged anywhere to date'.
• The Foundation's share of the funds raised by Gary Barlow's concerts was £166,000 (funds raised were shared with the Prince's Trust).
• The Foundation will announce a major conservation initiative dealing with sustainable development in the Autumn (Charles's passion for conservation has obviously been passed onto his sons).
• The Foundation has placed just over £1 million on long-term deposit with Schroders.
• 3 new members of staff were taken on, bringing the total to 4. One member of staff (presumably the CEO) was paid over £130,000. All staff costs were met via a donation made explicitly for that purpose, so no funds donated to the Foundation were used on staff costs.

I'm probably the only one interested in all this, partly because my job includes assessment of financials.