21 December 2016 12:00 am
Daily Mail/20 December 2016- The Queen will step down as patron of more than 20 national organisations at the end of the month, Buckingham Palace revealed today.
The Queen, who celebrated her 90th birthday in April, will relinquish her association with the bodies - just as the Duke of Edinburgh broke formal ties with some of his patronages when he turned 90 in 2011.
The move is likely to be seen as a common-sense decision which acknowledges the Queen’s advancing years but Buckingham Palace stressed the monarch is still patron of more than 600 organisations.
The patronages will be taken on by members of the Royal Family and organisations involved include Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Barnardo’s, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Association.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: ‘At the end of the Queen’s 90th birthday year, Her Majesty will step down as patron from a number of national organisations.