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Princess Anne dethroned as ‘hardest-working’ royal by this close…

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She’s no match for him.

Princess Anne has been dethroned as the “hardest-working member” of the royal family by none other than King Charles himself, according to a new report.

The 77-year-old monarch participated in a staggering 535 engagements up until Dec. 18, per the Court Circular, which has kept count of the official outings each working member of the British royal family has attended every year since 1997.

Princess Anne during a visit to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh on Sept. 26, 2025. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
King Charles visits Chatfield Health Care in London, England, on Nov. 5, 2025. Getty Images

The Princess Royal followed close behind her brother with an impressive 478 engagements out of the 2,458 listed in 2025.

Anne, 75, was considered the hardest-working royal for the last few years, per the Court Circular’s informal tallies.

Royal biographer Dickie Arbiter opened up about Anne’s work ethic last year after she took on 457 engagements versus King Charles’ 425.

Princess Anne, Charles and Camilla in Braemar, Scotland, on Sept. 3, 2022. Getty Images
Princess Anne, King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace on May 5, 2025. Getty Images

“She just gets on with it, often carrying out multiple engagements in one day,” Arbiter shared in 2024.

“Of course, much of what the king does is behind the scenes, in meetings and going through his red boxes, which doesn’t warrant a mention in the Court Circular,” he also acknowledged.

King Charles ending the year as the hardest-working royal comes after a dramatic 2025 for the monarch.

Earlier this month, the sovereign revealed that he would be scaling back his cancer treatment plan in an emotional update during Channel 4’s annual Stand Up To Cancer broadcast.

King Charles during Channel 4’s annual Stand Up To Cancer broadcast on Dec. 12, 2025. Channel 4 via Getty Images
Prince Richard, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace on Nov. 2, 2022. Getty Images For Buckingham Palace

“Today, I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctors’ orders, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year,” he shared in a message nearly two years after he was first diagnosed in February 2024.

The rest of the Court Circular’s rankings, meanwhile, featured some other familiar royals who have worked hard for all of 2025.

Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, ranked third and fourth with 313 and 235 duties, respectively.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attends Coral Gold Cup Day at Newbury Racecourse in Newbury, England, on Nov. 29, 2025. Getty Images
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and King Charles at Buckingham Palace on May 5, 2025. Getty Images

Queen Camilla, 78, followed close behind with 228 engagements, while Prince Richard was listed sixth with 212.

As for Prince William, he ranked seventh with 202 royal engagements, followed by Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, with 113 and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, with 77.

William’s wife, Kate Middleton, placed 10th on the Court Circular’s list with 68 engagements – an impressive achievement considering she spent most of 2025 recovering from her own startling battle with cancer.

Kate Middleton in Windsor, England, on Dec. 3, 2025. Samir Hussein/WireImage
The Prince and Princess of Wales in Southport, England, Sept. 23, 2025. Getty Images

The Princess of Wales, who was first diagnosed in January 2024, kicked the year off by announcing that she was in remission.

Kate, 43, shared the happy news during a surprise visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Jan. 14.

“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focused on recovery,” she wrote on social media a few months after completing her chemotherapy treatments in September 2024.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Armed Forces Complex in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 11, 2024. Anadolu via Getty Images
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaving Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023. REUTERS

Other royals missing from the Court Circular’s rankings this year include Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, who gave up their roles as working royals back in 2020.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was also absent from the list once again this year because he has not been a working royal since November 2019.

While Queen Elizabeth removed Andrew’s military titles and patronages in 2022, King Charles officially stripped the disgraced royal of his titles last month.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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