The fact that Prince William will soon be King and things will change when he is, cannot be denied. And that will probably take some getting used to for some of the older royals, like Princess Anne, who have been used to doing things one way for so long. The Princess Royal, widely regarded as the hardest-working royal, is said to be prepared to continue to do her duty. But what about her children?

Royal expert Richard Palmer, in his report for I News, cited an insider and claimed that once Prince William is King, the number of working royals is predicted to shrink to just five or six. That’s about half of what it is now, and about a third of what it was under Queen Elizabeth. “William won’t have cousins helping him like the Queen [Elizabeth] did. So he’ll have to work smarter,” one source said.

Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth

Princess Anne is expected to continue working, and both Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie are likewise expected to have prominent roles. That’s the older generation stepping up and continuing with their duties. But according to Palmer, “there will be no room for their children on the taxpayer-funded payroll.” That contradicts previous reports indicating William would lean on his cousins like Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

This comes after The Sunday Times recently reported that Princess Anne was “annoyed” that William had not taken on more investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. This makes sense considering Princess Anne does the bulk of these ceremonies. And, if the monarchy is going to be slimmed down even further when he’s King, then that will probably continue to be a concern of hers going forward. She’s always been renowned for being hard-working, but she probably would like not to be the only one who is.

A source close to Princess Anne reportedly said, “She’s still doing most of the investitures [at Windsor] even though William lives there. It annoys her.”

The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, Princess Anne outnumbered absolutely every working royal when it came to royal engagements undertaken. She had 473, which was over 100 more than King Charles, who came in second place with 372 engagements. A distant third was Prince Edward with 293. Prince William wasn’t even in the top 3.

However, despite these reported annoyances, William is said to have a very good relationship with his aunt—unlike his relationship with his uncle, Prince Andrew. She is also said to be very supportive of him and his desire to modernize the monarchy. After she returned to work after a recent accident, the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a sweet message for her on social media that read: “Super trooper! So great to see you back so soon! W & C x”.

And Princess Anne, who is 75 years old, has no plans to retire anytime soon. She said in an interview with the Press Association, “I don’t think there’s a retirement program on this particular life. It really isn’t written in, no. It isn’t really an option, no, I don’t think so.” So it’s safe to say that she’ll continue to support her brother, King Charles, and she’ll be around to support her nephew, Prince William, for as long as she’s able.