Meghan Markle Supports Causes Close to Her Heart With 4 New Royal Patronages

Congratulations are in order for Meghan Markle! 

The Duchess of Sussex has been named the patron of four organizations. Each one focuses on a different cause that is near and dear to the royal's heart: the arts, access to education, support for women and animal welfare.

Two of the patronages were handed down by Queen Elizabeth II.

The first is The National Theatre, which Her Majesty supported as patron for 45 years. According to Kensington Palace, Meghan is a "strong believer in using the arts to bring people from different backgrounds and communities together." This mindset seemed to directly align with The National Theatre's mission, which is to make world-class theater available to all. The organizations achieves this through a number of ways, including its young people's creative education programs, digital programs and "Public Acts" initiative. While the National Theatre accidentally let news of the duchess' support slip yesterday on its website, royal admirers probably could have seen this one coming. After all, she starred on the hit show Suits for a number of years before she married Prince Harry. She also majored in theater while attending Northwestern University and volunteered at a performing arts program for kids back in Los Angeles.

The second patronage she'll inherit from the Queen is The Association of Commonwealth Universities, which Her Royal Highness supported for 33 years. Meghan has been a champion of accessible education for all for years and recently spoke about this passion during her first royal speech in Fiji. According to Kensington Palace, the ACU, which was founded in 1913 and is the world's oldest international university network, "champions higher education as a force for good in the Commonwealth and beyond." It achieves this goal through a number of ways, including its scholarship programs. One of these is The Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships, which challenges universities to address policy challenges, like climate resilience and the promotion of peace.





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