Princess Anne has retained her title as the hardest-working royal with 217 engagements by 2024, while her brother King Charles III took second place despite undergoing cancer treatment last year.
The Princess Royal, 74, known as the most diligent member of the royal family, took on 31 more official engagements this year than her older brother, who carried out 186.
Together the pair took on the most official duties than their royal counterparts, despite Anne taking a short break in June after being kicked by a horse and suffering a concussion, and the monarch undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Despite this, the King has managed to return to a full schedule, which includes trips to France for D-Day commemorations, hosting the Emperor of Japan for his state visit and touring Australia and Samoa with the Queen.
The analysis comes as Buckingham Palace confirmed the king will continue to fulfill his duties, with his treatment “moving in a positive direction” until 2025.
The research, conducted by the company Reboot SEO, is based on articles published in the Court Circular, The Telegraph reports.
Anne has long been known as the hardest-working royal, although the king took the top spot in 2019 and 2020.
The Duke of Gloucester and Prince Edward came joint third, completing 126 tasks, while Sophie Wessex came fifth with 124 tasks.
The Princess Royal, pictured with husband Sir Tim Laurence, has retained her title of hardest working royal, with 217 engagements by 2024
Princess Anne pictured with her older brother, King Charles III, during the state visit of the Emir of Qatar earlier this month
The Princess Royal arrives by carriage on day three of Royal Ascot in June this year
The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence at Windsor Castle in June
King Charles III took second place despite undergoing treatment for cancer last year, with 186 engagements
The monarch pictured during D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France in June
King Charles III and Queen Camilla pictured in Samoa during their tour in October
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla undertook 95 missions.
Although usually among the top spots in the annual rankings, the Prince and Princess of Wales saw a big drop in engagements this year, due to the Princess’ cancer diagnosis and subsequent preventative chemotherapy.
Prince William completed 71 engagements in 2024, while Kate Middleton undertook just 11, as the couple wanted to focus on her recovery and spend time with their three children.
It comes after William described the past year, which saw his wife and father treated for cancer, as ‘brutal’.
The prince spoke candidly about the royal family’s major health problems in an interview while in South Africa last month. He said 2024 has been “probably the hardest year of my life” and a “terrible” experience.
When asked about his year on November 7, William replied: “Honestly, it’s been terrible. It has probably been the hardest year of my life. So it’s been really hard to get through everything else and keep everything on track.
“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my dad, because he’s addressing the things that they’ve done. But from a personal family perspective, it was, yes, it was cruel.”
Kate appeared in a very personal video with her family in September to confirm her return to public duties after completing a course of chemotherapy.
Camilla completed 95 assignments this year. Pictured: The Queen at a reception at Waltham Forest Town Hall in east London on Friday
The Princess of Wales, pictured at the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey earlier this month, carried out 11 duties this year following her cancer diagnosis
The Prince of Wales, Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the Together At Christmas carol service in Westminster Abbey
William and Kate, pictured during the Emir of Qatar’s visit in December, stepped down from their roles this year after being diagnosed with cancer
A heartfelt message about her cancer journey was delivered through images showing the Waleses and their children enjoying the outdoors, and she said her focus was now on ‘doing what I can to stay cancer-free’.
The latest figures were revealed as the King and Queen held their final public event of the year at a reception at Waltham Forest Town Hall in east London.
Royal aides said this would ‘celebrate the strong sense of community cohesion in the borough, highlighted by peaceful counter-protests in August 2024 following disorder in other parts of the UK’.
Charles recently expanded his engagement, including a visit to Apple’s London headquarters and a meeting with CEO Tim Cook.
“You could almost forget at the start of the year that this was a man who had the shock of a cancer diagnosis,” a source told Sky News.
Some assignments may involve little more than showing up; others require a lot of preparation, not to mention a long journey.
And the Court Circular makes no mention of illness, pregnancy, red boxes or the paperwork and private meetings that fill every royal agenda.