Queen’s cousin and his wife take part in remarkable challenge in support of vital charity

The Queen’s cousin and his wife are taking part in an incredible challenge this month to raise money for a very significant cause. 

• The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are taking part in Prostate Cancer UK’s March The Month challenge.
• The Duke of Gloucester is the Queen’s paternal first cousin and he and his wife are full-time working members of the Royal Family.
• In other royal news, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is ‘saddened’ by Kensington Palace ‘bullying’ claims.

The Queen’s cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his wife Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester are taking part in a remarkable challenge - Prostate Cancer UK's March the Month (opens in new tab). Whilst perhaps not as well known to royal fans as Her Majesty’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are, the Duke and Duchess are nonetheless significant senior members of the Royal Family. 

As a son of the late Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who was brother to King George VI, the Duke is a paternal first cousin to the Queen. The Queen has previously supported his fight against Covid-19.

Duchess Birgitte and Duke Richard’s participation in this amazing charity challenge was announced on March 1 on the Royal Family’s official Twitter account. Posting a picture of the royal couple in the great outdoors, the caption shared the important cause they will be raising awareness for.

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‘The Duchess of Gloucester, Patron, is taking part in @ProstateUK’s #MarchTheMonth challenge!' the caption read.

‘HRH - supported by her walking partner, The Duke of Gloucester - will complete 11,000 daily steps this month, representing the 11,000 men who die from prostate cancer every year.’

The March The Month challenge is a virtual walking challenge that everyone can get involved with. The Prostate Cancer UK website states that you can take on the challenge either alone or, as the Duchess of Gloucester has chosen to do, with other people. 

The challenge sees those taking part walk 11,000 steps a day throughout March and participants can also track and share their progress using a JustGiving fitness tracker. This important challenge will help to raise awareness and money to fund lifesaving research. 

Duchess Birgitte has been a Royal Patron of this vital charity for many years. She and the Duke of Gloucester hold a great number of royal patronages and are important working members of the Royal Family. 

The Gloucesters live in the Old Stables at Kensington Palace - the same royal palace where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their young children live during term-time. The Cambridges are understood to have been spending lockdown at their Norfolk residence, Anmer Hall.

Though with schools set to reopen on March 8, it’s been speculated that the family will move back to London so that Prince George and Princess Charlotte can return to Thomas’s Battersea school.