Well, we finally have the end-of-year numbers for how many events the British royal family did for 2018. This is always a pretty interesting way to end one year and start another, and I’m expecting our annual PR missive from Poor Jason Knauf about how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are super-keen to really work in 2019. It’s a tradition at this point! And yes, I do think we should factor in the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy and maternity leave into her numbers, just as I think we should factor in the fact that Meghan only became a duchess in May, AND she’s pregnant too. That still doesn’t explain Harry and William’s lack of engagements, especially given that Prince Charles did 507 EVENTS this year.

He celebrated his 70th birthday this year, but Prince Charles showed his devotion to royal duties as he completed 507 engagements this year compared to his son Prince William’s 220. Although being second in line to the throne, the Duke of Cambridge, 36, carried out fewer engagements in 2018 than most older royal family members and less than half the number of his father Prince Charles. And just seven members of the royal family completed more days than the Prince of Wales, including the Queen and her cousin the Duke of Gloucester, 74, according to the annual compilation of royal engagements by Tim O’Donovan. But Prince William did carry out one more engagements than the Duchess of Cornwall who was once described as ‘the laziest woman in Britain’.

Despite celebrating her 92nd birthday in April, the Queen showed no intention of slowing down and completed 283 official engagements throughout the year. The monarch increased her workload by 25 per cent this year, according to Write Royalty. Despite the Duchess of Sussex only becoming a royal in May after her marriage to Prince Harry, Meghan has already completed more royal engagements than the Duchess of Cambridge. The Duchess of Sussex made her first official royal engagement just three days after her nuptials when she attended Prince Charles 70th Birthday celebrations in Buckingham Palace. She has since completed a tour of Australasia where she announced her pregnancy. Meghan’s working days are expected to increase next year, as the Queen is expected to pass along her patronages to other family members.

The Duchess of Cambridge carried out the least number of engagements than any other members of the royal family with 87 appearances and events. Prince Harry carried out 193 events.

Princess Anne, 68, was the crowned the hardest working royal for the third year running with a total of 518 royal engagements. The Earl of Wessex and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, carried out more than younger royals Prince Harry and Prince William – despite the brothers’ fame.

[From The Daily Mail]

It sucks that Meghan’s events only began to “count” when she got married, because chica was doing tons of events during her engagement and she really did demonstrate her eager work ethic. I wonder what 2019 will bring – I suspect that unlike in years past, Kate will front-load her year with events in February and March, especially during Meghan’s last trimester, and Kate launching her big Broken Britain charity initiative or whatever. But will Kate still be extra keen by the time Meghan’s maternity leave happens? I don’t know. If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that Kate thrives on head-to-head competition, so the best way to get Kate to work is to get Meghan in front of cameras more often.

As for Harry and William – they have no excuses. Both princes need to be doing a lot better.

Photos courtesy of WENN.