‘Hardest working’ royal of 2018 revealed – and it’s not the Queen

It’s been a busy year for the British royal family with not one but two royal weddings, another baby prince and an exciting pregnancy announcement, but new figures have now revealed which member carried out the most official duties this year.

While the Queen takes more time away from the spotlight, following the resignation of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh last year, her children and grandchildren are increasingly taking the reigns and performing a higher volume of duties.

According to The Telegraph, Queen Elizabeth’s four children carried out a combined calendar of 675 official working days, significantly more than the younger generation of working royals, including the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.

But, according to statistics published in the Court Circular, it was the Princess Royal who carried out the most royal duties having worked a total of 180 days over the past 12 months.

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Read more: From ‘weighing in’ to gag gifts: Royal family’s bizarre Christmas traditions.

Following Princess Anne, who is the monarch’s only daughter, were her siblings, including the Prince of Wales who is next in line to throne.

The Duke of Cambridge carried out 120 days of duties last year, while his brother the Duke of Sussex is recorded as having worked just under 100 days. However the siblings carried out around 20 per cent more engagements in 2018 than they did the year before.

The newspaper also revealed that their wives – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge – carried out a combined total of 100 working days, with many of these engagements including tours overseas and charitable work.

However Catherine’s workload will have been significantly decreased due to the birth of her third child Prince Louis in April, with the duchess only returning to work after her maternity leave in October. And Meghan will no doubt carry out many more official duties in future, as she has not yet received any royal patronages since officially joining the family in May.

The royal family are currently gathered in Sandringham ahead of the Queen’s annual Christmas Day celebrations at the monarch’s private home in Norfolk, UK.

As with most families, the royals are rumoured to have their own set of bizarre and very strict rules for the festive celebrations at Sandringham, from weighing in on a set of scales before and after their stay, to exchanging gag gifts on Christmas Eve and honouring a stringent seating plan.

Are you surprised by this? What do you think of Princess Anne?