By royal appointment: Princess Beatrice is Opus director

Princess Beatrice has been appointed as a director of a membership community focused on nurturing UK entrepreneurs.

The princess, who is ninth in line to the throne, was previously a patron of start-up Opus but has been given a seat on the board at the for-profit group, which calls itself as an ‘opportunity community’.

The appointment, broken by Sky News, came as Opus announces its six-figure seed funding round and further backing from business bigwigs, including Miguel McKelvey, co-founder of WeWork, and Adam Marshall, the former British Chambers of Commerce director-general.

Opus, which has more than 250 members in London, hopes to build a ‘highly vetted network of rising leaders’. Princess Beatrice said that she was ‘excited’ to continue her work with the group.

Sam Tidswell-Norrish, founder of Opus, said: ‘Princess Beatrice’s energy and passion in shaping the Opus mission since inception has been essential and something I am extremely grateful for.’

The eldest daughter of Prince Andrew has previously worked as vice-president of partnerships and strategy at tech firm Afiniti, representing it at major events, including the meeting of world leaders at Davos in 2019.

But the firm hit the headlines in 2021 after its founder became embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal, while the princess was on maternity leave. David Cameron, the former prime minister, resigned as adviser to Afiniti following the row.

It is the first UK project McKelvey has been involved with since leaving WeWork in 2020, when it was shrouded in controversy after co-founder and chief executive Adam Neumann was ousted by investors frustrated by his management in 2019.

On his appointment to the board, McKelvey said: ‘In my experience, communities can be magical places, but to capture the spirit of a community they take huge investment of time, energy and passion.

‘Based on past experience, the vision for Opus resonates with me and building a powerful community of rising leaders who come together with and for each other is an exciting prospect.’