A half-year reckoning for the working royals
William picks up the pace as his father extends his lead as the hardest-working royal
The royals have passed the half-year mark of 2025. The stories hidden within their official work data tell a story of a family dealing with a series of issues, both unexpected and inevitable.
Whenever I try to discern longitudinal patterns in royal work data, I have to remind myself that the last few years have been anything but standard for the royal family:
2020-21: Pandemic restrictions
2022: Elizabeth II dies, Charles accedes the throne
2023: Coronation
2024: King Charles and Kate, Princess of Wales, are diagnosed with cancer
If there is one word that describes 2025, it would be “rebuilding.”
The current roster of 10 working royals did a bit more than 1,300 engagements for the first six months of 2025. That’s the busiest start to a year in this decade, aside from 2022, when most of them were undertaking Platinum Jubilee work on behalf of the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II:
2020: 735 engagements by the current 10 working royals in Jan-June
2021: 818
2022: 1,350
2023: 1,283
2024: 983
There’s also a definite upward trend in the monthly data. In the first three months of the year, all the royals worked an average of 194 engagements a month. In the second three months, from April to June, that average climbed to 240 a month.
As well, charting all the 10 working royals shows how the 10 working royals cluster in three basic groups:
The siblings of Charles, Anne, and Edward are the only royals to have done more than 150 engagements.
There are four royals in the 100-125 engagement range: Prince William, the Duke of Gloucester, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Queen Camilla.
After that, three royals occupy the 30-60 engagement range: Kate, Princess of Wales, the Duke of Kent, and the Duchess of Gloucester.
Charles is No. 1
King Charles is more than 65 engagements ahead of his sister, Princess Anne, when it comes to the number of engagements performed from the start of 2025 to June 30. Though Anne is ahead of her big brother when it comes to the number of days worked, this year’s gap is half that of where it was at the same point last year.
PRINCE WILLIAM PICKS UP THE PACE
June was the busiest month to date of the year for the Prince of Wales, who completed 29 engagements. The June total was more than he did in the same month in the previous five years.
Prince William’s place among all working royals, by month:
January: 5th place
February: 7th
March: 4th*
April: 7th*
May: 8th
June: 4th
*tied with another working royal
Though his June tally landed him in fourth spot for the month, he didn’t shift his overall 2025 position of 7th place.
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