The Duchess of Cambridge will become the patron of four charities and will also volunteer for the Scout Association.

Her first appointments reflect her interest in the arts and supporting young people as she becomes patron of Action on Addiction, royal patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, royal patron of the Art Room and patron of the National Portrait Gallery London.

In September the Duchess began researching charitable causes to decide which ones she wished to support by conducting private meetings at St James’s Palace and private visits to organisations.

Over the coming months she will undertake public and private visits to the organisations of which she has been appointed patron. She will volunteer with the younger members of the Scout movement near her home in north Wales as an occasional helper.

All the organisations will be invited to the Prince’s Charities Forum, set in 2006 by the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry to bring together their charitable interests. Once the Duchess’s organisations are included the Forum will have 32 members.