King Charles completed 86 solo engagements in the first three months of 2026. Prince William managed 22. The 77-year-old monarch, who continues receiving cancer treatment, has nearly quadrupled his son’s output. Queen Camilla, at 78, logged 33 solo appearances. Kate Middleton recorded 11. The numbers tell a story that royal defenders find increasingly difficult to explain.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are in their mid-forties. They are healthy, and their children attend school full-time. And yet the couple who represent the monarchy’s future are being outpaced by relatives old enough to be retired. This is not a snapshot of one slow month. The pattern has persisted for years.
The 2026 first quarter numbers
Gert’s Royal Analysis has compiled the official engagement data from the Court Circular for the first three months of 2026. The findings reveal a stark divide between the monarch and his heir.
King Charles completed 86 solo engagements between January and March. Queen Camilla recorded 33 solo appearances. The couple appeared together on 13 occasions. Prince William managed 22 solo engagements. Princess Kate logged 11. The Wales couple undertook just six joint appearances.
The monthly breakdown tells an even more revealing story. In January, Charles completed 15 solo engagements while William managed eight. Camilla recorded 13 solo appearances compared to Kate’s four. February saw Charles complete 49 solo engagements. William reached 14. Camilla’s solo count stood at 16, more than double Kate’s seven. March delivered the most striking figure of all. Charles completed 22 solo engagements. Camilla added four. William and Kate recorded zero engagements for the entire month.
These numbers place the Wales couple far behind their older relatives. The King is 77 and undergoing cancer treatment. Queen Camilla is 78. Yet both maintain schedules that dwarf those of the couple in their forties. Princess Anne, aged 75, consistently outworks both William and Kate. The pattern has persisted across multiple years.
The 2025 numbers that started the conversation
Last year, the engagement totals drew widespread attention. King Charles led the family with 535 appearances. Princess Anne followed close behind with 478. Prince William placed seventh with 202. Princess Kate ranked tenth with just 68.
These figures prompted fresh scrutiny of the couple’s work ethic. Critics revived the “work-shy” label that has followed William and Kate for years. Even a significant increase from 2024 could not close the gap. Kate’s engagements rose 423 percent that year, yet she still finished near the bottom of the list. The older royals simply keep working at a pace the younger generation cannot match.
The school run defence has been exhausted
William and Kate have a clear priority: their children come first. They scale back duties during school holidays. They avoid overseas travel unless absolutely necessary. This approach has been praised as modern parenting. It has also been questioned as a convenient shield.
Public engagements consistently drop when the children are home. The couple’s defenders say they are giving George, Charlotte and Louis a normal upbringing. Their critics point out that school days last six hours. Working parents across Britain manage full-time jobs and school runs without a palace staff of dozens. The Waleses have nannies, private chefs and household employees. They have more support than almost any family in the country.
Prince George has already started boarding and will head to Eton later this year. The justification that William and Kate cannot work because their children need them is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.
The monarchy’s workload problem
King Charles has long envisioned a slimmed-down monarchy. That vision has now become reality, though perhaps not in the way he intended. The working royals now consist of the King, his wife, his eldest son and daughter-in-law, and his younger brother and sister-in-law. Princess Anne also maintains a punishing schedule of royal engagements. The institution has shrunk, but the workload has not been redistributed evenly.
William has been criticised for performing only the engagements he enjoys. His plan to reduce his number of patronages has raised eyebrows. The future king seems to be moving toward a leaner model of monarchy. The question is whether the institution can afford that approach.
The anti-monarchy group Republic has been blunt. They describe the couple as “particularly lazy” while noting that William receives a private income of more than £23 million a year. That figure does not include the Sovereign Grant or additional security costs. The public pays for this lifestyle. The public expects something in return.
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A question of sustainability
The Waleses’ gap between their workload and that of their elders is becoming harder to ignore and justify. King Charles is 78 this year. He has undergone cancer treatment while maintaining a punishing schedule. Princess Anne is 75 and still outworking royals half her age. The Duke of Edinburgh, now in his sixties, logged 313 engagements in 2025. William and Kate are in their forties. They should be carrying the heaviest load, not the lightest.
The monarchy has always relied on a simple exchange: public funding for public service. If the future king and queen are unwilling to match the commitment of their predecessors, the institution faces a difficult reckoning. Alleged popularity by YouGov Polls cannot sustain a family that increasingly appears to treat royal duties as optional. The numbers are not going away. Neither is the question they raise. What exactly are the Prince and Princess of Wales working toward?
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