Rod Stewart and Wife Penny Lancaster Join Forces with King Charles in Special Announcement

King Charles is adding more celebrities to his roster of ambassadors.

Rock legend Rod Stewart and his wife, Penny Lancaster, have become the newest advocates for The King’s Foundation. They join a star-studded roster of supporters, including actress Sienna Miller, announced in December, and former soccer legend David Beckham, who came on board last summer.

The announcement coincides with the 35th anniversary of Charles’ charity, which focuses on practical education and training programs aimed at building stronger communities and transforming lives. Many of its courses, held at Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, England, are designed to preserve heritage skills such as embroidery and woodturning, ensuring these traditional crafts endure for future generations.

Sir Rod and Lady Stewart, as they are officially recognized by the charity, will visit Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland—the charity’s headquarters—this week to deepen their involvement with its initiatives. For Penny, who is a volunteer police constable and a campaigner for menopause awareness, a key focus of the visit will be meeting with staff at the health and wellbeing center to learn more about their perimenopause programs and support services.

The couple is said to have been deeply inspired by the King’s Foundation’s work, having met with students and alumni at the organization’s awards ceremony at St. James’s Palace in June 2024. Rod, who celebrated his 80th birthday on January 10, has long been a dedicated supporter of Charles’ charitable initiatives, including the Prince’s Trust, which helps disadvantaged young people access business opportunities they might otherwise miss—now renamed the King’s Trust.

Rod said he and Penny were “pleased” to be ambassadors and “look forward to lending support to this worthwhile cause, particularly during such a significant year for the charity.”

Lady Stewart, 53, called it an “honor.” “As a volunteer special constable, the Foundation’s approach to building communities – and how access to green spaces can help build better, healthier places – is particularly important to me.”

Chief executive of the foundation, Kristina Murrin, said the couple had been friends of the charity for some time. “It’s fantastic to cement that relationship with the news of their ambassadorship. We are so pleased they are officially joining us on our mission to build sustainable communities and transform lives across the world,” she said.

Before the holidays, new ambassador Miller took part in the charity’s Christmas carol service and read Sir John Betjeman’s iconic “Christmas” alongside Angelica Ellis, an embroidery graduate from The King’s Foundation and CHANEL Metiers d’art Embroidery Fellowship.

The fellowship is a partnership with Le19M, based at Highgrove Gardens. Students there are encouraged to be inspired by the sights and flora in Charles’ garden at Highgrove when creating their designs. When PEOPLE visited in the summer, Ellis, from London, said she drew inspiration for her idea from the garden’s purple and orange blooms of crocuses. “Here, it is all about protecting traditional crafts, which is something I care about too,” she said.

Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! 

“You see the benefits in France where they’re quite good at producing and keeping their skills. The project here is super important,” she told PEOPLE. “There are things that the tutors here have given me that I don’t think you get anywhere else.”