Royal work data-palooza: Charles III and Camilla; William and Kate.

Part 2: The Most Senior Four

First, a recap of the topline data for the entire coterie of working royals. During 2023, the royals undertook 2,422 official engagements:

1. King Charles III: 483

2. Princess Anne: 459

3. Prince Edward: 307

4. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh: 240

5. Duke of Gloucester: 211

6. Queen Camilla: 197

7. Prince William: 185

8. Kate, Princess of Wales: 132

9. Duchess of Gloucester: 127

10. Duke of Kent: 76

11. Princess Alexandra: 5

Read Part 1: The Overview here.

This post focuses on the most senior four members of the House of Windsor: the King and Queen, as well as the heir to the throne and his wife.

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PART 2: THE MOST SENIOR FOUR

1. King Charles III: 483

   …

6. Queen Camilla: 197

7. Prince William: 185

8. Kate, Princess of Wales: 132

King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Annual total engagements from 2017 to 2023 (No reproduction without permission of Write Royalty Inc.)

While Charles vies with his sister Princess Anne for the top position among all working royals when it comes to the number of engagements in a year, his wife is usually in the middle of the pack. And 2023 was no different as the King undertook nearly 2.5 times more engagements than his wife to claim the No. 1 spot while the Queen was in sixth spot out of 11.

If there’s any explanation, it’s perhaps the most basic: the children of Queen Elizabeth II have done this work for most of their adult lives and are used to its rigors. They have always undertaken heavy workloads, especially compared to the rest of the royal family. Since 2017, Charles and his two siblings — Princess Anne and Prince Edward — have occupied three of the top four slots on my annual list of working royals.

By contrast, Camilla was 57 when she entered the House of Windsor. She slowly ramped up her workload as she took on causes, charities and military affiliations. She’s even created some, including the Queen’s Reading Room, which started in 2020 as a list of favourite books, chosen to help others get through COVID lockdowns.

And 2023, she slightly upped her workload to 197 engagements, which was her highest tally since before the pandemic. The Reading Room also transformed itself, by adding a festival at Hampton Court Palace, with a podcast coming soon. Her increase of two percent from 2022 to 2023 is in contrast to a small dip in Charles’s workload. His overall total of engagements dropped five percent from 2022, though it was still enough for him to claim the No. 1 spot. And his drop is in line with the overall drop of five percent by all working royals combined.

On average, the Queen undertook fewer official duties each working day than her husband: Charles did an average of more than three engagements for each day he worked while Camilla did her 197 engagement in 104 days, or 1.9 per working day.

Another notable difference in their engagements is where they take place: 71 percent of Queen Camilla’s are done outside palace walls, a share similar to that of Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales. In contrast, the large number of regal duties that the King must undertake, especially audiences, meetings, and investitures, means that 45 percent of all his engagements occurred inside Buckingham Palace, while only 36 percent completed outside any castles, palaces, or royal residences in 2023.