Meghan Markle's official royal patronages have finally been announced.

It’s been nearly nine months since Meghan Markle became an official member of the royal family.

And now, the Duchess of Sussex’s official patronages have finally been announced.

In a nod to her former career as an actor, the Duchess will become a Royal Patron of the National Theatre.

The patronage, which was previously held by the Queen for 45 years, was accidentally announced early by the National Theatre yesterday.

As pointed out by The Telegraph’s arts and royal correspondent Hannah Furness, the news of Meghan’s new role was released prematurely on the British theatre’s website.

Whoops! Looks like the first patronage “secret” is officially official thanks to the National Theatre’s IT department ???? “The Duchess of Sussex announced as our new Royal Patron” pic.twitter.com/h8ysbfsOkP

— Hannah Furness (@Hannah_Furness) January 9, 2019

The Duchess will also take over the Queen’s patronage of The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) – a patronage which the Queen held for 33 years.

The 37-year-old will also take on patronage of two additional charities, including British women’s employment charity Smart Works and animal welfare organisation Mayhew.

Kensington Palace explained yesterday that the four organisations were chosen for Meghan as they are all “causes and issues with which [Meghan] has long been associated”, including her passion for the arts, access to education, support for women and animal welfare.

 

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The Duchess of Sussex will become Patron of four organisations that reflect the causes and issues with which she has long been associated including the arts, access to education, support for women and animal welfare. Her Majesty The Queen has passed on two patronages to The Duchess of Sussex –The National Theatre and The Association of Commonwealth Universities. The Queen has held the roles for 45 and 33 years respectively. Her Royal Highness will also take on Patronage of two additional charities as part of her official working portfolio – Smart Works and Mayhew. Visit the link in our bio to find out more. ???? Phil Noble / Reuters

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jan 10, 2019 at 1:32am PST

Royal family members are given patronages of charities they care about as way of building their official working portfolio.

“The Duchess is delighted to become Patron of both national and grassroots organisations that are part of the fabric of the UK, and is very much looking forward to working with them to bring wider public attention to their causes,’” Kensington Palace said in a statement.

“Her Royal Highness feels she can use her position to focus attention on, and make a particular difference to these organisations and, more widely, the sectors they each represent.”

Yesterday, Meghan visited Smart Works in west London for her official first visit as a patron of the charity.

#Meghan helping Patsy Wardally, 56, choose an outfit pic.twitter.com/A9YMa1vNmE

— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) January 10, 2019

During her first to the women’s charity, which provides unemployed women with support to get back into the workforce, the Duchess helped a 56-year-old woman choose a potential outfit for an interview.