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Kate and Prince William defended the appropriateness of the donations redirected from the Royal Foundation to the Sussex Royal Foundation and Travalyst. In a statement issued to the Daily Telegraph, a spokesman for Kate and William’s Foundation said: “The grants made to Sussex Royal were to support the charitable work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 

“They were fully in line with governance requirements and were reported transparently.”

This comes as Republic, the anti-monarchy campaign group calling for the election of the UK’s head of state, has asked the Charity Commission to investigate The Royal Foundation and Sussex Royal over grants given to Meghan and Harry’s former UK charity, the Sussex Royal Foundation, and Prince Harry’s sustainable tourism project.

The Charity Commission said it would assess information in the complaint filed by Republic to determine whether it was appropriate to launch a probe.

The Royal Foundation was created in 2009 by Prince William and Prince Harry to provide them with a platform to carry out their charitable ventures. 

Following their weddings with, respectively, Kate and Meghan, the Foundation also included the two Duchesses.

Meghan and Harry stepped out of the Royal Foundation in the spring of 2019, when they announced their desire to launch their own platform to work at causes close to their hearts.

According to the annual report of the Royal Foundation, Kate and William’s organisation paid £145,000 to fund the set-up and launch of the Sussex Royal Foundation.  

A further £100,000 were given to Travalyst, which at the time was under the umbrella of Sussex Royal.

The Sussex Royal Foundation was set up in July last year but was never launched and has been abandoned in January after Meghan and Harry were told they could not stand down as senior royals while retaining their former brand name.

Travalyst, which is led by the Duke of Sussex and founded by Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa, has since been registered as a private limited company. 

Launching his complaint to see an investigation into the transfer of funds, Republic campaigner Graham Smith wrote to the Commission: “These two charities appear to be in breach of guidelines regarding the proper use of charitable funds and may be failing in their duty to act independently and solely in the interests of their objectives.

“In both instances it appears the only rationale for the decision was the personal relationship between two patrons, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge.”

Kate and Prince William haven’t been the only royals to respond. 

Prince Harry’s lawyers hit back at Mr Smith’s claims saying they are “defamatory and insulting”.

They said: “This is his life’s focus, and his devotion to charity is at the very core of the principles he lives by, and is obvious through the impact and success of his many charitable projects throughout the UK and beyond.

“To this point, it is deeply offensive to today see false claims made about the Duke of Sussex and his charitable work.

“It is both defamatory and insulting to all the outstanding organisations and people he has partnered with.”    

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