In the modern age, royal families usually don’t do much ruling. The political heavy lifting is typically left to elected politicians while those of royal blood lead lives of leisure.
While members of the British Royal Family are involved in charities and step out for official events, they only do so for a part of the year. The male members are also expected to serve in the military for a spell, but only a few see active duty.
It’s hardly unfair to wonder what they do most of the time. However, there is one member of The Firm who has always treated their position with the utmost seriousness.
Princess Anne (who bears the title of Princess Royal), is definitely the hardest working member of her family and one of the hardest working royals in the world. According to The Telegraph, Princess Anne has attended 457 engagements in the past year.
This makes her the hardest working member of her family for the third year running. Her count exceeds even King Charles, who has attended 425 in his new position.
The third busiest was their youngest brother, Prince Edward, at 309 engagements. In contrast, the heir apparent to the throne Prince William has only attended 172.
Dickie Arbiter, the former press spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth, said Princess Anne provided invaluable support to the King.
“She just gets on with it, often carrying out multiple engagements in one day,” he told The Telegraph.
Over the past year, Princess Anne would have undertaken between 12 and 14 engagements a week on average, which means she would have attended at least two in a day.
When attending events, Princess Anne reportedly does her own hair and makeup and still drives herself to all events. In fact, she has been fined twice for speeding on account of being late. At the age of 73, it’s clear that she is still keeping busy.
Princess Anne is the second child and only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. She has preferred to remain out of the limelight despite contributing significantly to charities and presiding over many ceremonial events.
Outside of being a member of the Royal Family, she is perhaps best known for her career as an equestrian. She has one gold and two silver medals from the European Championships.
She even competed at the 1976 Olympics as part of the British team and insisted on finishing one of the events even after she was concussed.
Her two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall do not have royal titles. Rather than performing royal duties, they both studied at university and have careers in business and sport respectively.