Princess Beatrice becomes Patron of Ethiopian School for Orphans

Although not a full-time royal, Princess Beatrice is building an impressive list of patronages as she adds yet another worthy cause to her roster. 

In keeping with the Royal Family’s continuing love and advocacy for Africa, Princess Beatrice is the new patron of the Broomwood African Education Foundation, whose latest project is the building of a school for orphans in an agricultural part of North West Ethiopia.

Located in Azezo, a city of 50,000 residents, the St. George’s School is being built on a 5-hectare plot of land near a river.

“As St. George is the patron saint of Ethiopia and England it seemed like the perfect name for the school,” Diana Marden wrote in the BIE Update, The Broomwood in Ethiopia Newsletter.

St George’s will open its doors in autumn 2013. The student population will be comprised of both boys and girls aged 5 and 6 years old from local underprivileged families.

Modelled after Broomwood Hall in London, the school will strive to provide free education following the same ideals as the London School. St. George’s will also offer extracurricular activities and nourishing meals.

In 2007, Princess Beatrice followed in her mother’s footsteps when she became a global ambassador for Children in Crisis, “a charity founded by Sarah, Duchess of York in 1993. The charity aims to help educate children and women in some of the poorest countries.”

Her Royal Highness demonstrated her hands-on commitment to fundraising and making a difference when she became the first Royal to participate in the London Marathon, as part of the Caterpillar Team, and climbed the Mont-Blanc in a bid to raise funds for The Big Change Charitable Trust, a charity she founded with six friends. The Trust recognizes and funds projects that advance the lives of young people.

Over the years, The Princess has indeed proven herself to be a champion of childhood causes. She is a devoted benefactor of The Sick Kids Friends Foundation and an Ambassador to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Sharing in the Duchess of Cambridge’s fondness and appreciation for children’s hospices, The Princess of York serves as Patron of the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

In a letter following her opening of the Hospice’s new building, The Princess wrote: “I was so impressed with the atmosphere you have created at the hospice, and I had a real sense that this was a place of hope in some of the darkest days of a family’s life.”

Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven, the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre is another patronage that is close to Princess Beatrice’s heart as it was instrumental in helping her overcome her own struggles with the learning disability.

A promoter of the arts, HRH is the Patron of the York Theatre Royal, and the York Musical Society.