The Queen is Head of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms. The elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was born in 1926 and became Queen at the age of 25, and has reigned through more than five decades of enormous social change and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and has four children and eight grandchildren.HomeHer Majesty The QueenQueen and CharitiesQueen and charities

An important part of the work of The Queen is to support and encourage public and voluntary service.

One of the ways in which Her Majesty does this is through involvement with charities and other organisations.

The Queen has over 600 patronages.

These cover every area of the charity and voluntary sector, from opportunities for young people, to preservation of wildlife and the environment.

Involvement with these organisations helps to recognise their achievements, and helps to recognise the contributions of many different sectors of public life.