The Duchess of Edinburgh

The Duchess of Edinburgh

A full-time working member of the Royal Family, The Duchess of Edinburgh splits her time between her work on behalf of The King across the UK and Commonwealth and support for a large number of her own charities and organisations.

Much of the day-to-day working life of The Duchess of Edinburgh is dedicated to her role as Patron of over 70 charities and organisations. Each year, Her Royal Highness undertakes hundreds of visits to schools, hospitals, military bases, charities and community groups to see their work first-hand and to highlight it to the wider world.

The Duchess’s Patronages reflect her wide range of interests which include supporting young people and children in need of additional care, supporting people with disabilities, the elimination of avoidable blindness and championing the sight loss community, as well as agriculture and gender equality. Over the past years, Her Royal Highness has also committed to raising awareness for the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, and the positive role women play in building peace.

Equality for Women

Her Royal Highness concentrates much of her work on supporting women and championing gender equality, be it in the workplace or in other areas of society, both in the UK and overseas.

Women in the Workplace

The Duchess advocates for gender equality and inclusion in the workplace through her involvement with 100 Women in Finance, the Women’s Network Forum and The Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Women in Business Committee.

In May 2021, Her Royal Highness became Patron of Wellbeing of Women, the women’s health charity dedicated to saving and changing the lives of women, girls and babies. Led by women’s voices, Wellbeing of Women improves health and wellbeing across a woman’s life course through research, education and advocacy. The Duchess attended a virtual roundtable discussion held to launch the charity’s Menopause Workplace Pledge, to mark World Menopause Awareness Month, in October 2021.

Women, Peace and Security and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict

The Duchess of Edinburgh also devotes her time to supporting the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). The Women, Peace and Security agenda is a United Nations initiative which recognises not only the impact of conflict on women and girls, but also the positive role women play in conflict resolution and building peace. The agenda promotes the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peace processes and politics.

The PSVI is a UK Government-led initiative that raises awareness of how conflict related sexual violence is used as a weapon of war. This violence disproportionately affects women and girls, but also impacts men and boys around the world. The initiative seeks to galvanise the world into further action to tackle sexual violence in conflict by promoting prevention, strengthening justice and accountability, and supporting all survivors and children born of conflict related sexual violence.

The Duchess of Edinburgh announced her commitment to champion both WPS and PSVI on International Women’s Day in 2019. Her Royal Highness has since continued to draw attention to the work undertaken by women peacebuilders, and the experiences of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and children born of rape in conflict affected countries. The Duchess has visited a number of countries to highlight historical and ongoing issues, including Kosovo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Her Royal Highness maintains regular links with various Civil Society Organisations.

Young people and children

The Duchess of Edinburgh has a strong personal interest in the provisions for people with disabilities and embracing opportunities for young people, championing both local initiatives such as Disability Initiative in Surrey as well as national charities such as the NSPCC.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex established their foundation The Wessex Youth Trust in 1999 with a focus to help, support and advance registered charities which provide opportunities specifically for children and young people.

In 2019, the Wessex Youth Trust was renamed The Earl and Countess of Wessex Trust. Having met the charity’s original objective – supporting and advancing organisations which provide opportunities for children and young people – the Trust will now broaden its charitable endeavours beyond youth focused initiatives and will focus on developing strong relationships with a selected group of charities.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex founded The Wessex Youth Trust Shortly before their marriage in 1999. It offered grants and support to charities helping young people. The Trust benefited a broad cross-section of youth oriented causes, including hospitals and hospices, child protection and drug-prevention schemes, inner city drop-in centres, sex education initiatives, special educational needs libraries, sports facilities and arts groups. The Wessex Youth Trust distributed over £2.5 million to over 180 causes during its two successful decades.

In support of The Earl of Wessex, Her Royal Highness is also involved with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and chairs the Women in Business Group which works to promote the Award. In 2016 The Countess completed her challenge to cycle 445 miles from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace, as part of her Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Diamond Challenge.

During her challenge, The Countess wrote a blog on her experiences as she took part in the challenge to mark the 60th Anniversary of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

The Countess has also been the President of Girl Guiding UK since 2003.