In 1993 the Duchess founded Children in Crisis, based in London, and she remains active its mission to provide aid to forgotten children around the world. The Duchess recently toured CiC projects in Liberia; Poland, Albania, Sierra Leone and Russia.

Since 2005 the Duchess has served as a Global Ambassador for World Children’s Day, an international campaign produced by Ronald McDonald House Charities.  In 2004, The Duchess became a spokesman for SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest independent, non-political child welfare organization providing stability for abandoned and abused children.
 
In Britain The Duchess is a long-standing patron to a number of British charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, Tommy’s (its charity for babies), and the Motor Neurone Disease Association; Springboard for Children (an educational trust, to promote esteem and literacy among inner city children)

In 2000 the Duchess served as a national volunteer U.S. spokesperson for the American Heart Association to raise awareness of heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the U.S.