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Sir Hans Rausing, one of the UK’s foremost philanthropists, has been appointed a Knight Bachelor at an investiture ceremony hosted by the King at Windsor Castle.
The Tetra Pak heir, who has given more than £500m to at least 2,000 organisations across the UK, was honoured with a knighthood in the King’s birthday honours list in June for services to the arts.
During the pandemic, the Charity Survival Fund, which he set up with his late wife Julia, provided grants to 329 charities.
The Julia Rausing Trust has donated £150m to the National Gallery to open a new wing that, for the first time, will include modern art.
Sir Hans co-founded the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust in 2014 with his late wife, Julia Delves Broughton.
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Sir Hans said he was immensely proud (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
Julia, Sir Hans’s second wife, died with cancer in April last year, aged 63, and last year the trust was renamed the Julia Rausing Trust to honour her memory.
The new trust has doubled its annual giving to £100m across the UK, including a £150,000 donation to The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign to build a women’s shelter last year.
Sir Hans said of the investiture: “I am immensely proud to receive this prestigious honour.
“This recognition would have meant a great deal to my late wife, Julia, whose vision led to the creation of our charitable trust in 2014.”
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The Julia Rausing Trust supported The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign to build a women’s shelter (Julia and Hans Rausing Trust)
Sir Hans’s first wife, Eva, died in 2012. Friends credited Julia with bringing him happiness after Eva’s death, encouraging the extraordinary generosity of their charitable trust.
His father, Hans Rausing senior, who died in 2019, is credited with turning Tetra Pak into a global business.
At investiture ceremonies on Tuesday and Wednesday, television presenter Claudia Winkleman and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly were made MBEs, and The Who frontman Sir Roger Daltrey received a knighthood.
Sir Roger, 81, who launched and curated the Teenage Cancer Trust’s Royal Albert Hall concerts from 2000 to 2025, was honoured for his for services to charity and to music.
Others honoured at Windsor Castle included former chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt and former Commons leader Dame Penny Mordaunt.
