Express & Star

Sir Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster join King’s charity as celebrity ambassadors

The singer and his wife have long supported The King’s Foundation and are the latest in a run of celebrity ambassadors to be announced.

By contributor By Laura Elston, PA Court Reporter
Published
Penny Lancaster and Sir Rod Stewart at the The Hard Rock Pinktober Gala Fundraiser
Penny Lancaster and Sir Rod Stewart have become ambassadors for the King’s Foundation (Ian West/PA)

Sir Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster have become the newest celebrity ambassadors for the King’s charity The King’s Foundation.

The veteran rocker, who has just celebrated his milestone 80th birthday, and model, special constable and Loose Women star Penny have joined the likes of David Beckham and Sienna Miller in the role.

It marks the start of the foundation’s 35th anniversary celebrations, and the couple will visit the charity’s headquarters Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, this week.

Sir Rod Stewart shakes hands with the King at the King’s Foundation charity’s inaugural awards in June
Sir Rod Stewart shakes hands with the King at the King’s Foundation charity’s inaugural awards in June (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

Sir Rod, who has long been a supporter of the charity, said: “We are so pleased to be coming on board as ambassadors for The King’s Foundation and look forward to lending our support to this worthwhile cause, particularly during such a significant year for the charity.”

The singer, known for hits including Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?, Hot Legs and Maggie May, gathered with the King, Beckham and Miller at the foundation’s inaugural awards in St James’s Palace in June.

Penny, also known as Lady Stewart, said: “As a volunteer special constable, the Foundation’s approach to building communities – and how access to green spaces can help build better, healthier places – is particularly important to me.

Penny Lancaster on the streets of central London as part of the force policing the Queen’s funeral procession
Penny Lancaster on the streets of central London as part of the force policing the Queen’s funeral procession (Isobel Fordham/PA)

“It’s an honour to be working with the Foundation and I can’t wait to meet more of the inspiring people who both learn with and work for the organisation.”

During their visit, the couple will meet staff at the Health and Wellbeing Centre on the Dumfries estate to hear about the range of perimenopause programmes and support groups available on site for the local community, linked to Penny’s role as patron of Menopause Mandate.

Kristina Murrin, chief executive of the charity, said: “Sir Rod and Lady Penny have long been friends and supporters of The King’s Foundation, so it’s fantastic to cement that relationship with the news of their ambassadorship.”

Queen Elizabeth II meeting Sir Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster during an award ceremony at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2016
The late Queen Elizabeth II meeting Sir Rod and his wife Penny during an award ceremony at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2016 (Jeff Spicer/PA)

The King’s Foundation, previously known as The Prince’s Foundation following an amalgamation of Charles’s charities, which stretch back to 1990, in the year he turned 70, aims to “advocate for the change His Majesty wants to see in the world”.

Its textiles education programmes works to train the next generation of young craftspeople in heritage and endangered skills but it also focuses on sustainability, farming and agriculture, health and wellbeing, and architecture and urbanism.

The foundation has a growing number of well known ambassadors, including Beckham, Miller, Alan Titchmarsh, Sarah Beeny and Patrick Grant, and celebrity supporter Naomi Campbell.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.