The hardest working royal of the decade might surprise you - and no, it's not Princess Anne

The Princess Royal has been pipped to the top spot when it comes to the hardest working members of the Royal Family over the last 10 years.

The Royal Family
(Image credit: getty)

The hardest working member of the royal family has been revealed and it might surprise you - and no it's not Princess Anne.


The hardest working member of the royal family over the last 10 years has been revealed and they've overtaken Princess Anne despite her having worked the hardest in 2022 alone.

The data, compiled by royal watcher Tim O'Donovan between 2013 and 2022 published by Mail Online has shown that King Charles has carried out the most engagements in the last decade.

And this might surprise some royal fans who would have expected Princess Anne to get the top spot after her remarkable feat last year which saw her attend 214 annual royal engagements compared to King Charles' 181 events.

But when you compare royal family members engagements over the last 10 years, the Princess Royal, who lives at Gatcombe Park, carried out 4,693 royal engagements and has only just been beaten by King Charles, with almost 5,000 engagements and currently stands at 4,854.

In third place is Edward, Duke of Edinburgh on 3,155 and the late Queen Elizabeth II who completed 2,721 visits.

You'd expect King Charles to carry out the most visits going forward as monarch, but surprisingly, Prince William, who is next in line to the throne in line of royal succession has come in ninth place of the hardest working royals of the decade.

King Charles using a spade during royal visit

(Image credit: Getty)

King Charles even got straight back to work following the coronation weekend, when he threw a garden party and also attended Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge to break ground on the new laboratory, meet with academics, aviation leaders and tour the facility on Tuesday, 9th May.

Over the next couple of years, certain royals are expected to undergo more engagements with reports of King Charles' five year plan for a slimmed down monarchy. 

It comes after Prince Louis took part in his first ever royal engagement, where his nickname was revealed.

And you could say that perhaps Prince William and Kate haven't attended as many royal engagements due to their parenting of their three children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, taking up the rest of their time.

Engagements by royals over past 10 years

  1. King Charles = 4,854
  2. Princess Anne = 4,693
  3. Prince Edward = 3,155
  4. Queen Elizabeth II = 2,721
  5. Prince Andrew = 2,289
  6. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh = 2,253
  7. Queen Camilla = 2,084
  8. Duke of Gloucester = 2,056
  9. Prince William = 1,704
  10. Duke of Kent = 1,538
  11. Prince Philip = 1,057
  12. Duchess of Gloucester = 1,031
  13. Kate Middleton = 1,024
  14. Prince Harry = 1,009
  15. Princess Alexandra = 830
  16. Meghan Markle = 179

But while King Charles and Princess Anne's engagements are impressive, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline, "William and Catherine, in a list compiled from 2013, two years after they married, have done far fewer numerically, but have done a great deal for the causes they are attached to and gives their profiles a huge boost as the world's most glamorous royal couple. 

"Examples of this are the Earthshot Prize, United for Wildlife and Catherine's work for the Centre for Early Childhood."

Selina Maycock
Senior Family Writer

Selina is a Senior Family Writer for GoodtoKnow and has more than 16 years years of experience. She specialises in royal family news, including the latest activities of Prince George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie and Lilibet. She also covers the latest government, health and charity advice for families. Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism, and gained her NCTJ and NCE qualifications. During her career, she’s also written for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, and Woman's Weekly as well as Heat magazine, Bang Showbiz - and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. When she's not covering family news, you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories (including award-winning scarecrows!)