Not to give Queen Camilla too much credit, but she’s generally a much more active charity patron than Prince William and Kate. Especially Kate, who has literally gone eight-plus years without visiting her patronages or doing anything to highlight their work. Several of Kate’s patronages have collapsed or moved to partner with other charities or groups over the years (and Kate still hasn’t done diddly squat). Meanwhile, Camilla regularly hosts events for her patronages and makes personal visits. Back in January, Camilla visited The Prospect Hospice, one of her charitable patronages since 2013. Well, a visit from Camilla seven months ago hasn’t helped, and the hospice is under so much financial strain, they’re shutting down one of their charity shops.
One of Queen Camilla’s patron charities has been forced to make a difficult decision following persistent ‘financial pressures’. The Prospect Hospice, which provides dedicated end-of-life care to those across the North of Wiltshire, has been supported by the Queen ever since she became the charity’s president in 2013. The charity announced this week that it’s been forced to close one of their shops.
In a statement shared with HELLO!, the charity said: “The decision to close has not been an easy one, but continued financial pressures across the charity sector, including rising costs and changing shopping habits, mean Prospect Hospice has to focus our resources where they can have the greatest impact on funding patient care.”
The shop, which is located on Marlborough High Street, is set to close its doors on Saturday, September 6.
Stuart Necrews, Head of Commercial Income at Prospect Hospice, said: “We are so thankful to the staff, volunteers, donors and customers who have supported this shop over the years. Closing the doors is not a decision we wanted to make, but it is a necessary one to ensure we can continue providing outstanding care to local people at the end of their lives.”
The Prospect Hospice provides dedicated end-of-life care to those across the North of Wiltshire and has been supported by the Queen ever since she became their patron in 2013. Queen Camilla most recently visited the Prospect Hospice in Wroughton, Swindon, in January of this year.
Yeah, it looks particularly bad because A) Camilla was just lounging around a borrowed superyacht in the Greek isles just a few weeks back and B) Camilla is currently on vacation in Scotland. Surely, Camilla’s courtiers understand that this looks bad, right? She’s the bloody queen and this has been her patronage for more than a decade. Charles and Camilla always brag about their “soft power” and “convening power” – well, use that power to help a hospice!! Host a damn fundraiser at the palace, or use your connections to bring in a major donor!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
- Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, 21 January 2025: Britain’s Queen Camilla, President of Prospect Hospice, waves after a visit to the hospice to celebrate their 45th anniversary and 30 years on the charity’s current site in Wroughton near Swindon, Wiltshire.,Image: 956137657, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jacob King/Avalon
- Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, 21 January 2025: Britain’s Queen Camilla, President of Prospect Hospice, meets Mark Dennis during a visit to the hospice to celebrate their 45th anniversary and 30 years on the charity’s current site in Wroughton near Swindon, Wiltshire.,Image: 956137757, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jacob King/Avalon
- Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, 21 January 2025: Britain’s Queen Camilla, President of Prospect Hospice, cutting a cake during a visit to the hospice to celebrate their 45th anniversary and 30 years on the charity’s current site in Wroughton near Swindon, Wiltshire.,Image: 956137877, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jacob King/Avalon
- Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, 21 January 2025: Britain’s Queen Camilla, President of Prospect Hospice, meeting Christopher Southall during a visit to the hospice to celebrate their 45th anniversary and 30 years on the charity’s current site in Wroughton near Swindon, Wiltshire.,Image: 956137961, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jacob King/Avalon
- King Charles III and Queen Camilla during the national Service of Remembrance, hosted by the Royal British Legion in partnership with the Government, to mark the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. Picture date: Friday August 15, 2025.,Image: 1029533143, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens/Avalon
- Their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla joining veterans, members of VJ associations, military personnel and senior politicians for a national Service of Remembrance, hosted by the Royal British Legion with government, to remember 80 years since VJ Day marked the end of the Second World War National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire.,Image: 1029570632, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Paul Edwards/Avalon
- THEIR MAJESTIES ATTEND A NATIONAL SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE TO MARK THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF VJ DAY. The King and Queen will join a reception for VJ veterans and their families hosted by the Royal British Legion at The Aspects Building, National Memorial Arboretum. PIC: HRH with Bob Gelder (100) and his eldest son Kim.,Image: 1029570652, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Eddie Mulholland/Avalon
- Their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla joining veterans, members of VJ associations, military personnel and senior politicians for a national Service of Remembrance, hosted by the Royal British Legion with government, to remember 80 years since VJ Day marked the end of the Second World War National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire…Picture shows The King and Queen sit next to veterans John. Harlow and Edward Hatfield,Image: 1029571212, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Paul Edwards/Avalon
The royals just don’t care, and the people of the UK will continue to be scammed by these lazy, greedy, useless grifters.
To be fair to Camilla (I know, I know), this isn’t the entire charity shutting down. It’s one shop. In the U.K., shops shut all the time, including charity shops. Our high streets have loads of empty units. It’s might not just be about money, but about lack of volunteers (charity shops are staffed by people who give up their time for free, usually pensioners), lack of donations, issues in the local area etc. This might be a temporary measure, with them planning to open a new shop in another, better location in the future. The fact that the royals all have tons of money themselves and could easily support charities and their shops themselves is a separate issue.
Agreed, almost all the charities here are struggling and while shops bring in revenue they are also expensive to run. A lot of people are really into second hand/’vintage’ clothing these days which is great but it also means a lot being sold on ebay or vinted instead of donated.
Now, could the royals actively donate or fundraise? Of course they could! But they’ve never seen that as their role, we’re expected to be awed by their presence and that’s enough.
They used to absolutely see it as their role. Queen Victoria’s daughter Helena, her DIL Queen Alexandra, Helena’s daughters Marie Louise and Helena Victoria, Victoria’s cousin the Duchess of Teck and the Duchess’s daughter, the future Queen Mary (who as a princess attended parliamentary sessions and read the blue books put out), were indefatigable.
They were knowledgeable, hard working (actually working) and very hands on. They donated money, auction items, time and always attended *and* bought things at the different bazaars charities put on. They also put the pressure on their social contacts. The Duchess of Teck had the POW (Edward VII) donating his clothes and helping personally bundle them for her huge clothing drives.
It really changed after Queen Mary died imo. She was basically the “last Victorian” style royal. The Queen Mother was more of a ribbon cutter and hands off patron.
The article and the Head of their Commercial Income actually said that the reason is due to financial pressures and rising costs. There was no mention of issues regarding volunteering or staffing, other than him thanking all who have contributed to helping at that location who are no losing their job. And to Kaisers point, why don’t they ever do fundraising to help these charities that are struggling financially? Any money raised could go towards keeping the charity running where it’s at or at a new location if the issue is location. They just show up with a smile and a wave whenever they want and bring nothing to the table for those in need.
It is so weird how 🇬🇧 charities seem to need royal patrons! There are plenty of foundations in the 🇺🇸 that operate without those leeches! What do they really to the table? There was a study that showed they bring absolutely nothing.
All these charity ‘visits’ is just a PR exercise for most in that family and a way to spend their time.
Anyway… as long as they don’t come over here, it is not my money spent on them!
A royal patron is similar to a celebrity spokesperson. At least that’s how I see it.
I understand what you are saying but at least with celebrities they don’t all just show up empty handed. Most help fundraise and contribute their own money to charities they support, so I’m not sure it’s entirely the same thing.
If that’s how you see it then surly they could use their celebrity to help. Maybe a fundraiser like someone above has mentioned would be helpful. Although they don’t like to be thought of as celebrities just working royals then they should do something anything they can to help the charity they are patron to.
Meanwhile they’re still blaming H and M for Sentebale. 🤷
It’s interesting bc on the one hand we talk about the wales needing to do more and they Do! But that still doesn’t mean these charities are going to have enough money to exist. Unlike the RF.
That’s because even when they do something or more, it’s still not enough.
What initiatives did Camilla bring to the table to prevent this? What happened to the money from the Duchy of Lancaster? Couldn’t she give them a grant? Help restructure their business model?
Have a project similar to Smart set?
Good points. Meghan’s cookbook and smart set were about creating revenue for the charity. And then she herself donated money for a new wing at Mayhew.
A report released a few years ago, revealed that royal patronages do more harm than good to charities. Because donors tend to overlook the patronages because they believe the royals help fund them. And if it’s royals like Kate, Camilla, Charles etc whose fans don’t care about their work or even fundraise on their behalf, royal patronage is even a curse.
One thing that has shown with the advent of Meghan, is how a supportive and dedicated fanbase can be a blessing. And this has translated on to Harry.
For the others, their charities will continue to fail, because they don’t bring anything to the table except a visit once in a while.
A lot of UK charities are now selling donated items online at much higher prices than they can get in charity shops which are necessarily limited to sales to the shoppers that actually enter the store.
There is nothing in this statement to suggest the charity is having financial issues (although they may be, I don’t know), just that the money they get back after expenses (which includes the rising costs mentioned) means it’s not worth selling via shops.
Lots of charities in the UK are doing the same and it has basically put the actual shops for many charities into a death spiral – the good stuff is pulled out for online sale so the savvy bargain shoppers stay away and only low value items are stocked so even the casual shoppers don’t bother and the decrease in the takings accelerates.
This charity has an eBay store with some nice items – but those are nice items not available on a store visit.
Off on a bit of a tangent … Humphrey Ker, Willy’s former boarding school roommate, is currently patron of the Wrexham Miners Project. Thus far, he’s personally raised over 144,956 pounds and is still going strong. He trained for & ran the Manchester Marathon as a fundraiser, even though all the experts told him his body shape is not that of a runner. Blood, sweat and tears literally: sciatica, wonky knees, you name it. And he still hates running! He’s writing a panto this Christmas, songs by Webber & Rice, with a gala performance, proceeds of which will go to the Miners Project.
Now THAT’s how you support your patronage. Of course, he’s not royal, only aristo-adjacent.
https://wrexhamminersproject.co.uk/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0egx3pdz4po