MEGA
Prince Andrew infamously withdrew from public life in November 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with the late predator Jeffrey Epstein.
And the move saw him resign as patron of 64 charities, as well as from ceremonial roles with golf clubs, regiments and other organizations – but Wonderwall.com can reveal his departure from the good causes had no measurable financial impact on the groups.
We can also reveal his presence in the patron roles was no more helpful when he was still in post.
Compiled by Giving Evidence with political sociologist Dr. Clemens Jarnach, research compared revenue trends from 35 of Andrew's former U.K.-registered charities with those of similar organizations over the same period.
Charities that had another royal patron before or after his departure were excluded.
The findings were stark – there was no detectable dip in revenue after he left, and no clear sign that his involvement ever brought in extra funds.
Some groups even flourished after losing Andrew's support.
The Fly Navy Heritage Trust's revenue rose by 346% following his exit; Children North East saw a 56% increase; Yorkshire Air Ambulance reported a 47% rise.
Others fared worse – the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust's income fell by 68%, while City Gateway's dropped by the same proportion – but the report found no consistent pattern linking these changes to Andrew's patronage.
Oddly, the Duke of York had just two Yorkshire charities among his 35 studied patronages and none at all in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.
His high-profile Pitch@Palace initiative was excluded from the research.
The study found "social services" accounted for the largest number of his charities, followed by education, culture and sport.
Its conclusion was blunt: "Charities which want revenue may be wasting their time in seeking, securing and/or servicing a royal patron."
Previous Giving Evidence work in 2020 showed a similar absence of revenue benefit across the patronages of seven senior royals – despite charitable engagements accounting for more than a quarter of their official duties in the last full year before the pandemic.
The exception was charities founded by royals themselves such as the Prince's Trust, now King Charles' Trust.
A source close to Prince William has said he is "moving away from patronages and towards projects," focusing through the Royal Foundation on targeted campaigns such as environmental protection and tackling homelessness.