Kate Middleton Has A New Royal Role And It’s So Perfect For Her

Meet the new patron of the Royal Photographic Society

Amongst all her royal duties (and being an eternal global style icon), the Duchess of Cambridge still fits in time to pursue one of her longtime hobbies: photography. She regularly takes adorable snaps of her three children and shares them with the public to honour important occasions; she captured a newborn Prince Louis being cradled by his sister, Prince Louis on his first birthday and Princess Charlotte on her first day of nursery as well as on her fourth birthday. She also took the first official portraits of a newborn Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, which was unprecedented in royal history. So it comes as no surprise that this week, Queen Elizabeth passed the baton to Kate and named her the new patron of the Royal Photographic Society. 

View this post on Instagram

Her Majesty The Queen became Patron of the Royal Photographic Society, one of the world's oldest photographic societies, in 1952. Today The Queen has passed the patronage of the Royal Photographic Society to The Duchess of Cambridge, ahead of The Duchess’s visit to a photography workshop run by The Royal Photographic Society and Action for Children, another of The Duchess’s patronages. The Royal Photographic Society was founded in 1853 with the objective of promoting the art and science of photography, and in the same year received Royal patronage from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Duchess of Cambridge has a longstanding interest in photography, and this patronage will further highlight the beneficial impact that art and creativity can have on emotional wellbeing, particularly for children and young people. Swipe to see some of The Duchess’s photographs taken over the past few years of her family. PA/Kensington Palace/HRH The Duchess of Cambridge @royalphotographicsociety @actionforchildrenuk

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jun 25, 2019 at 6:30am PDT

The Royal Photographic Society is one of the world’s oldest photographic societies and has benefitted form royal patronage since it was founded in 1853. This week, it was announced on Kensington Palace’s social media accounts that the Queen is passing her patronage onto the Duchess, after 67 years in the role. 

View this post on Instagram

Learning photography is a fun and engaging way to help young people develop confidence and self-expression, and to help develop new skills — today The Duchess of Cambridge joined two of her patronages, Action for Children and the Royal Photographic Society, for a special photography workshop. The Duchess of Cambridge joined Josh, and young people from Action for Children for the sessions run by the Royal Photographic Society, which covered elements of photography including portraits, light and colour. The workshop, run by RPS honorary fellows Jillian Edelstein and Harry Borden, highlighted how photography provides a universal language for young people to express themselves and explore their thoughts and feelings. As part of her longstanding work on early years The Duchess is on a mission to support organisations like Action for Children, that aim to give every child the best possible start in life. Action for Children, who are marking their 150th anniversary this year, are committed to helping vulnerable children, young people, and their families, across the UK. The charity's 7,000 staff and volunteers operated over 522 services in the UK, improving the lives of 301,000 children, teenagers, parents and carers last year. The Royal Photographic Society, of whom The Duchess today became Patron, is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in 1853 with the objective of promoting the art and science of photography. Her Majesty The Queen passed the patronage to The Duchess, after having held the role for 67 years. @actionforchildrenuk @royalphotographicsociety

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jun 25, 2019 at 8:48am PDT

Yesterday, Kate made her first appearance as patron at a young people’s workshop held by the Royal Photographic Society and Action for Children (of which she’s also a patron). This isn’t her first arts patronage – she’s patron of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

The Duchess of Cambridge has a longstanding interest in photography, and her patronage of @The_RPS will further highlight the beneficial impact that art and creativity can have on emotional wellbeing, particularly for children and young people. pic.twitter.com/gHgor2uAz0

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) June 25, 2019