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Prince of Wales becomes patron of Malaria No More, taking over from the Duke of York

The Prince of Wales has become president of Malaria No More UK – taking over from his brother the Duke of York who was the charity’s previous patron.

It’s the second role Prince Charles has taken from Prince Andrew, after becoming patron of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last month.

Andrew stepped down from public duties 18 months ago following the controversy surrounding his supposed friendship with deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles, 72, has long been a long-time campaigner to eradicate malaria and spoke at a malaria summit three years ago when he said the need to combat the disease was “without doubt an issue of truly global urgency”.

James Whiting, chief executive of Malaria No More UK, spoke about how much they are looking forward to working with Charles.

He said: “We are empowered by the support of His Royal Highness and look forward to working with him to ensure our global community meets the vital internationally agreed targets towards ending malaria and saving millions of children’s lives in the decades ahead. Let 2021 be the year when we get back on track to end this preventable disease.”

Last month, James Williams, the managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), confirmed that Charles had replaced Andrew in his role as patron.

He said: “At the RPO, we have been hard at work for some months, shaping a bold strategy for our concert, community engagement, inclusion and education programmes to enrich communities when it matters most; we aim to help people and businesses to rebuild after the long, dark months of lockdown. With the announcement of the Prince of Wales as our patron and the appointment of Vasily Petrenko as our new music director, the RPO is well placed to lead the resurgence and spread the joy of orchestral music in a post-COVID world.”