Kate and William to ask for charity donations - in invitations?!

[Sharnita]

But I doubt people who find the charities supported by royals controversial support the royalty in the first place.

Now that is probably true!

[MadMadge43]

I think it is hard to find a charity that nobody finds controversial.

Children's Burn Unit? Kind of hard o dislike that one  

[Sharnita]

I think it is hard to find a charity that nobody finds controversial.

Children's Burn Unit? Kind of hard o dislike that one  

You could dislike the animal testing done to develope the treatments they use, the methods of fund raising, the allocation of funds... there are always things that people will question

[araigne]

I think it is hard to find a charity that nobody finds controversial.

Children's Burn Unit? Kind of hard o dislike that one  

You could dislike the animal testing done to develope the treatments they use, the methods of fund raising, the allocation of funds... there are always things that people will question

Well, ya can't please all of the people all of the time...

[Sharnita]

I think that is one of the reasons that asking for charitable donations form wedding guest can be seen as particularly risky in the etiquette realm.

[veryfluffy]

Here is the link to the whole item:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8261895/Royal-wedding-Prince-William-and-Kate-Middleton-choose-charity-gifts.html

Several charities are mentioned, specifically those of which William is a patron.

I just can't believe that the invitations going out to members of other European royal families, senior political figures, etc., are going to have that on the actual invitations.

[Shoo]

Yeah, I'm having a hard time imagining it, too.  I'm thinking The Queen will have something to say about it.

[Sharnita]

I think you could make it known which charities they support without overtly asking people to donate - something like "William will continue to spend time working wiht X foundation and supporting the blah blah blah.  Kate will be working closely with  the organization to save whatever..."

[DangerMouth]

So.. What's the etiquette of thank you's here?

If you've donated to a charity because someone requested it, do you tell them about, so they can thank you? Do you say nothing and leave them to wonder if you donated or cheaped out?

[mechtilde]

UK perspective here:
 As per strict etiquette:

Including registry information with the invitation is not done.
Asking for charitable donations instead of gifts is a bit dicey, but is (In my opinion) acceptable.
Putting the request in the invitation is the same as putting registry information in.

That said, in my own personal opinion, there is nothing wrong with requesting donations instead of gifts (and please remember that here the charity claims back the tax if the Giftaid scheme is used), and putting such a request in with the general information sent with the invitation is fine (although a registry wouldn't be)

Mind you, I have no problem with "No gifts" either.

[SamInTheShadows]

What mechtilde said. ↑

[hyzenthlay]

Well strict etiquette is that you don't talk about gifts because it assumes people will give you something.

I think that's clearly NOT an assumption for these two. If they don't act to nip this in the bud they will probably be saddled with loads of very high quality junk they neither need nor want. I'm sure every country in the world would send some kind of token gift, and who knows how much stuff they might get from the royal-adoring segment of the populace.

Now that's it's been press released, maybe they won't have to address it in the invites. But if they do I have no problem with that. I think 'No gifts please' is a perfectly legitimate request, and for a couple with this level of exposure I think 'No gifts except to charity' is a valid choice.

Anyone who can't tolerate any of their charities isn't obligated to give anything. So I don't see the problem there.

(I agree for the average couple simply not registering and releasing the charity request when asked is preferable. But I think a normal couple is probably expected to be able to talk to most of their guest list in person, or at most only one family member removed. Their guest list may be in the thousands, I know the Charles and Di wedding seemed massive. And word of mouth simply isn't realistic.)

[Aggiesque]

Since the press already knows all of this, they won't need to bother with anything in the invitation 

[MadMadge43]

Since the press already knows all of this, they won't need to bother with anything in the invitation 

But that's assumming the head of Zimbabwe or other similar countries read those press articles.

[Flora Louise]

I would love to see the invitations to this wedding. I'm guessing they won't be married in the "style of the bride's parents?" 

Since it is a state occasion, I think it would be intriguing to see the actual invitation. I imagine the Obama's will get one. I remember the Reagans did when Charles and Diana married.