Do you need some uplifting royal news to counter a case of the Mondays? Well, you’ve come to the right place—we’ve got the latest! Just last week, Kensington Palace announced that the Duchess of Sussex will become a patron of four wonderful organizations: The National Theatre, The Association of Commonwealth Universities, Smart Works, and Mayhew. These organizations represent the causes about which Meghan Markle is passionate about supporting—the arts, access to education, support for women, and animal welfare, respectively. Through her patronage, Markle lends her name to the organizations in an official capacity, an act that boosts awareness and credibility (and therefore funding) for the organizations.
The National Theatre and The Association of Commonwealth Universities were under Queen Elizabeth II’s patronage for the last several decades, and she has passed them on to her daughter-in-law. Meanwhile, the latter two organizations were chosen by Markle herself. While each cause is one to celebrate, we animals lovers at Peaceful Dumpling were especially touched by the Duchess’ choice to work with Mayhew.
As the official site of the royal family, Royal.uk, explains, “the Duchess has long understood the connection between animals and community welfare” and supported animal rescue centers in Los Angeles during her time there (truly a princess after our own hearts!). Mayhew was founded in 1886 and is entirely supported by public donations. The organization seeks to foster the health and wellbeing of cats and dogs (and their community of humans) by providing preventive veterinary services, crisis shelters, and educational initiatives.
Throughout London, the organization works with the homeless to ensure these individuals in need may be kept with their pets and even facilitates a Pet Refuge program, which provides shelter and care for the pets of individuals in crisis. The amazing reach of Mayhew extends beyond the local, however; the organization teams up with charitable groups, governments, and communities in Afghanistan, Georgia, Russia, and India to further promote animal welfare.
Meghan Markle’s selection of Mayhew as one of her four patronages brings much-needed attention to a cause that 1) gets hardly any political airtime (if any at all) and 2) is far from glamorous. While almost everyone avows to loving cats and/or dogs, rare are those who donate their money to or venture into local shelters to assist with basic animal care, adoption events, and community outreach—and even perhaps rarer are those who give their time or money to people (with or without pets) who find themselves on the streets and in need of community support. Hopefully, the Duchess’ official endorsement of Mayhew will help change that and encourage Meghan Markle super-fans to look into serving their own local animal shelters à la a big-hearted princess.
In response to the news of the Duchess’ patronage, Mayhew released this sweet statement: “We are so excited that HRH The Duchess of Sussex has chosen to be our Patron. Mayhew works to improve the lives of dogs, cats and the people in our community, tackling the root cause of animal abandonment and neglect and supporting vulnerable people to stay with their companion pets. The Duchess has spent many years championing animal welfare, and we are honoured to have our charity represented by such a passionate Patron. We look forward to working closely with The Duchess and hope that, together, we can help even more animals and people.” We hope so, too!
What inspires you to get involved in your local community?
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Photo: Sussex Royal via Instagram
