Queen gives up 25 patronages to 'wind down' workload

The Queen is to step down from more than 20 national organisations to reduce her workload.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the monarch, who turned 90 in April, is to hand over the patronage of organisations including Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the NSPCC and Barnardo's to other members of the royal family at the end of the year.

The Duchess of Cambridge, a keen tennis fan, is to become the new patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which organises Wimbledon.

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"The move is likely to be seen as a common-sense decision that acknowledges the Queen's advancing years," says The Guardian.

It follows a similar move by the Duke of Edinburgh, who ended some of his patronages when he turned 90 in 2011.

If the precedent set by Prince Philip is anything to go by, "it is unlikely that most people will spot a difference in the number of public duties undertaken by the Queen, although her engagements have become less onerous in recent years and involve less travel", says The Times.

Buckingham Palace stressed the Queen was still patron of more than 600 organisations.

"The Queen and the Duke dislike any suggestion that they are slowing down," says the Daily Telegraph, "and the fact that they have each retained hundreds of patronages shows their continued commitment to full-time public duties."