Yahoo – AFP,
December 20, 2016
London (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II will stand down as patron of 25 bodies including the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Rugby Football Union, handing them to other royals after turning 90, her office said Tuesday.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II turned 90 in 2016 (AFP Photo/Nick Ansell) |
London (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II will stand down as patron of 25 bodies including the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Rugby Football Union, handing them to other royals after turning 90, her office said Tuesday.
"At the
end of The Queen's 90th birthday year, Her Majesty will step down as patron
from a number of national organisations," Buckingham Palace said in a
statement.
Other
bodies on the list include the children's charity Barnardo's, the British
Cycling Federation and the Royal Geographical Society.
At the All
England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Wimbledon, where the queen has been patron
since 1952 despite only attending a few matches, she will be replaced by Prince
William's wife Kate.
Prince
Harry will take the queen's place at the Rugby Football Union, where she has
also been the official patron since inheriting the throne in 1952.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the charities concerned represented less than five percent of the 600 organisations of which the queen is a patron.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the charities concerned represented less than five percent of the 600 organisations of which the queen is a patron.
"The
queen will no longer have a formal connection to these organisations. If there
is a royal engagement, then the invitation will go to other members of the
royal family," he said.
The queen
has already slightly reduced her engagements in the past year, according to
estimates in British media, from 393 in 2014 to 341 in 2015.
The queen
became the world's longest-reigning monarch in October this year following the
death of Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej.
In September
last year she had surpassed the reign of her great great grandmother Victoria,
who was on the throne from 1837 until 1901.
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