Prince William has closely examined new research that appeared to validate his longstanding scepticism about the Royal Family's extensive patronage system, according to new claims.
The Prince of Wales has taken what sources described as a "forensic interest" in findings from the research body Giving Evidence.
The study revealed that when Prince Andrew was compelled to relinquish his patronages, the financial impact on the charities involved was negligible.
According to a source who spoke to the Mail, William viewed this evidence as potentially applicable to the wider royal patronage system.
Getty
|Prince William taking 'forensic interest' in bombshell Prince Andrew report.
The Prince has previously expressed his preference for concentrating on select causes where he can make a "tangible impact", rather than maintaining the traditional approach of holding numerous patronages.
The source told the Mail that the Prince believes the new evidence "could be applied across the board".
The traditional system appears to offer limited benefits beyond "garden party invitations, a visit once in a blue moon and the slight chance of an MBE", according to the source. Whether such arrangements make any meaningful difference to charitable donations is now considered "very doubtful".
Giving Evidence examined the financial performance of 35 charities before and after the Duke of York stepped down from royal duties in 2019. This followed his controversial Newsnight interview regarding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Getty | Prince Andrew was forced to depart from 64 charity patronages in 2019.The study, titled "Prince Andrew's Charity Patronages: Analysis of the Effects on the Charities", was conducted by Caroline Fiennes, founder of Giving Evidence, and Dr Clemens Jarnach, a data scientist and political sociologist.
They performed six linear regression difference-in-differences analyses to measure any impact.
Their conclusion was unequivocal: "We find no evidence that Prince Andrew's patronage of charities helped the charities in terms of revenue: there was no discernible decline in their revenue when his patronage ended."
The findings suggested his royal patronage provided "negligible" benefit to fundraising efforts.
Getty | Prince William wants to make a 'tangible impact' as a member of the Royal Family.
Remarkably, approximately half of the organisations studied actually experienced increased profits following Andrew's exit.
The Fly Navy Heritage Trust saw its revenue surge by 346 per cent, whilst Children North East recorded a 56 per cent increase and Yorkshire Air Ambulance grew by 47 per cent.
Not all organisations benefited, however. Both the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and City Gateway experienced revenue decreases of 68 per cent.
Fiennes told the Times: "We investigated whether anything happened to the revenue of his patronee charities before and after the patronage ended, which did not also happen to all other charities ... It didn't."
PA | Prince Andrew stepped down as a working member of the Royal Family in 2019.The report noted that "charities which want revenue may be wasting their time in seeking, securing and/or servicing a royal patron".
Previous research by Giving Evidence in 2020 found similar patterns with other royal charities, despite patronages accounting for 26 per cent of all official engagements by seven senior royals in 2019.
The findings appeared to support William's preference for fewer, more focused charitable relationships over the traditional model of extensive patronage portfolios.