The number of engagements carried out by the King and the Princess of Wales fell in 2024 as they both received treatment for cancer.
The King undertook 372 engagements, putting him in second place behind his sister, the Princess Royal, who topped the list with 474.
Figures compiled annually by a reader of The Times since 1979 showed that senior royals carried out far fewer engagements in a year marked by sickness.
The Princess of Wales attended the men’s singles final at Wimbledon
KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP
Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February, which required him to step back from some official duties.
While the King, 76, continued to attend to his daily red boxes of government papers and other work, the number of public-facing engagements was reduced on the advice of his doctors.
In April, Buckingham Palace announced that he would return to work. He travelled to France for the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations and made a ten-day visit to Samoa and Australia.
At the palace, he hosted the inward state visits of the Emperor of Japan and the Emir of Qatar.
It meant that Charles carried out 329 engagements in the UK and a further 43 overseas. This was down from 422 engagements in the UK and 94 abroad in 2023.
Princess Anne, who will turn 75 this year, is once again at the top of the list, despite her own health concerns.
In June she suffered a blow to the head which was thought to have been caused by a horse on her Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire.
However, the princess, who is often described as the “hardest-working royal”, was back at work within a fortnight following hospital treatment.
The Princess Royal is still at the top of the list despite her own health concerns
ANDREW LLOYD/SPLASH
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Tim O’Donovan, 92, has sent his analysis of the Court Circular, which records the official duties of the working members of the royal family, to The Times each year for 45 years.
He said: “The King and the Princess of Wales both had treatment for cancer, which considerably reduced the number of engagements they were able to carry out. It should be remembered, too, that all engagements, whether visit, investiture or speech, differ as to form and content, and there is also time taken in preparation.
“Except for Christmas Day and Easter Day, the King does not have a day off from the red boxes.”
The third and fourth in the table in terms of the number of official engagements were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh respectively.
The Queen came fourth with 182 engagements, 56 of which were undertaken on her long-haul visit to Australia and Samoa.
The Prince of Wales made his wife and their young children a priority, which meant that he carried out 137 engagements in the UK and a further 29 overseas, including a visit to South Africa for the Earthshot prize. He also flew to France for the D-Day commemorations in Normandy and made a separate trip to Paris to attend the reopening service of the Notre Dame cathedral before he met the US president-elect Donald Trump.
The Prince of Wales visited South Africa in November for the Earthshot prize
PHIL NOBLE/PA
Kate, who underwent major abdominal surgery last January followed by chemotherapy, managed 13 engagements in the UK.
Prince William has said that the pair are optimistic that they might make some foreign visits together in 2025.
The distribution of work is affected by the health of the monarch and the number of significant events such as a coronation or a jubilee.