Yesterday, Prince William visited Centrepoint, the homelessness charity. William has been Centrepoint’s royal patron for 20 years, and his visit was to mark the 20th anniversary. They gave him a cake! The cake was made by “royal baker” Juliet Sear, who has been baking cakes for royals for more than a decade. She apparently knows their tastes, and she knows that William has a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate? Which I didn’t know. She told Vanity Fair: “William is a huge chocolate fan, so I slipped a chocolate biscuit tier into the cake, as I know it’s one of his favorites… It’s a three-tiered chocolate truffle fan, which I know William will love. It’s very rich and very delicious and basically pure chocolate.” Maybe he genuinely loves chocolate, but he was giving that cake a thousand-yard stare for some reason. If I was presented with a giant chocolate cake, I would look a lot happier, that’s all I’ll say. He was probably thinking up some rude insults about the cake. That’s my guess. As for William showing up for one of his few charitable patronages, the Telegraph covered some of his comments and they also got some quotes from Centrepoint’s chief executive.

The Prince of Wales has pledged never to be an “ornamental patron”, as he celebrates two decades of working with homelessness charity Centrepoint.

Seyi Obakin, Centrepoint’s chief executive, said the Prince had been “true to his word in every sense” after following in the footsteps of Diana, Princess of Wales, in taking on the patronage. He celebrated the milestone on Tuesday with cake and helped paint a heart on a new “Wall of Hope” mural.

In a short speech to staff, volunteers and beneficiaries he said: “Many of you have been here many more years than that and it’s an amazing moment to think, in 20 years, how much has changed and been achieved by all of you….The Centrepoint family is one I am very proud to be a part of and I can’t thank you all enough for the hard work, every day, you give to help other people. It’s fantastic, and that massive cake signifies the love, generosity and time you all give to helping others, so make sure you take a piece.”

Mr Obakin said that when Prince William was asked to take on a formal role two decades ago, he made it clear he did not want to be an “ornamental patron” and has lived up to that promise.

“Some of the things we have been able to do, we probably would not have done without his patronage,” Mr Obakin said. “When I first met him, I said to him ‘I’d like you to be patron for a very long time’ and he told me he wanted to get involved, understand what’s going on and know how he could help. He has been true to his word in every sense.”

[From The Telegraph]

Here’s the thing – it’s nice that William gets pretty involved with Centrepoint, and it’s by far the charity he visits with the most frequency. But there’s nothing wrong with ornamental patronage either – not everyone has the time, energy or ability to engage with a charity on the ground or on a regular basis. There’s no shame in turning up once or twice a year to glad-hand donors and/or highlight a charity’s work. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and that’s the kind of ornamental patronage which royals have done for decades. Prince William and Kate shouldn’t knock ornamental patronage until they’ve tried it. Because what they’re doing now is infinitely worse – only working as patrons for a handful of charities, barely showing up and publicly claiming that they’re hyper-focused on “impact” while doing nothing impactful.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.