While 2019 felt like it was dominated by news, gossip and scandal around the Duchess of Sussex, the truth is that she didn’t actually do a huge number of “events” or official royal engagements. Meghan’s first full year as a royal included one big tour (the African tour), one small official overseas trip (Morocco), the British Vogue guest-editorship, the separation of the royal offices, trips to Wimbledon and the US Open to watch Serena William play, and the Smart Set collection for charity. And, she was pregnant and on maternity leave too. And a ton more, honestly. So how is it that Meghan only did 83 official events in 2019? Especially compared to Kate’s number: 126. Kate wasn’t on maternity leave this year at any point, although she did take that “sympathy maternity leave” with Meghan, just as William’s rose-bush controversy was everywhere. Kate simply disappeared for like five or six weeks this year, do you remember that? Anyway, all of this to say, the official year-end event numbers have been released. Prince Charles is the hardest-working member of the family:
The Prince of Wales has been crowned the hardest working royal of 2019, due to the number of engagements he’s carried out this year. Impressively, Charles attended 521 functions this year – beating his sister Princess Anne for the first time. The princess still carried out 506 events in 2019 – which is still an exceptional effort. Prince Charles and Princess Anne have taken on more official engagements since the Queen and Prince Phillip started reducing their outings in the mid-1990s.
Despite being 93-years-old, the Queen attended 295 engagements in 2019, while Prince William carried out 220 and the Duchess of Cambridge went to 126.
Harry and Meghan also managed an incredible figure, considering they welcomed their son, Archie, this year. Prince Harry carried out 201 royal engagement and Meghan – who was on maternity leave for much of the year – still attended 83.
Following the Jeffery Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew was forced to step down from royal duties in November. He totalled 274 events in 2019 – his lowest count in 20 years.
Wait, Andrew managed to do 274 events? Where? When? Because Charles had already begun to edit Andrew out of royal work for years prior to this year’s Epstein drama. And Andrew basically took the whole summer off, and I know that because I was paying attention to his movements – he spent a chunk of time in Scotland with the Queen, he went on a golfing holiday with Fergie in Spain, and his events kept getting canceled after Epstein’s death. How in the world did he manage to “do” almost 300 events? I call bulls–t on that. I also call bulls–t on Meghan’s number – I think she’s done a lot of work which doesn’t “count” as an official engagement. Like, did the British Vogue stuff count as ONE event? Meanwhile, Kate was milking her Back to Nature for months with multiple “events.”
The unofficial engagement count by @thetimes reader Tim O’Donovan has become somewhat of an event for watchers. Always interesting to see how senior royals ranked (Queen: 295, Charles: 521, Anne: 506) though am personally more interested in hearing about the impact of the work… pic.twitter.com/nTgtkD2hFv
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) December 29, 2019
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
Both she and Harry have events/meetings that didn’t count, while the Cambridges make sure that every little thing under the sun is added to the CC.
William and his assistant counted saying good bye to their staff as work, taking their kids to school was counted, the garter event , changing clothes to visit a garden was counted but still the pigeons couldn’t get more nos .
I’m definitely not a Cambridge defender, but if it is counting the time he and Kate took the kids for their first day, I can see why it counted. They took photos, interacted with the press, etc. I guess I could see though that wasn’t in service to the crown though, so I could go either way.
I have to agree with Jen. The Cambridges are clearly not making every little thing count, as their numbers are still pitiful for full time working Royals. I don’t see an issue with the kids first day at school counting, since it did become more of a work event. ALL of the younger Royals should be ashamed of themselves. I know we love to focus on how amazing the Sussex’s are but both William & Harry only just went over the 200 mark. Keep in mind that these events are often not even 1/2 a days work. It’s not 200 full days work by any stretch. I’ll cut Meghan more slack since she was on maternity leave (for apparently almost an entire year if you believe the figures) but Kate… speechless. In nobodies world but theirs could this be classed as a full time job.
Outside of Invictus and Sentebale, we have no idea if they have meetings that aren’t in the circular. No one makes excuses for Kate’s low numbers. Let’s not make them for Meghan’s.
No one is making excuses for Meghan because they don’t need to. She has had three successful projects since her marriage which have had tangible results.
As others have stated, many of her meetings to make these things possible and Harry’s Invictus work are counted as part of a single activity, when their work is more impactful than all of Kate and William’s “meetings” combined.
Are you kidding me??? There are ALWAYS excuses for Kate’s low numbers!!! “The kids are….” : in school (parent meetings, school events, dontcha know!), off school (vacation time! Have to be with the kids!), no babysitter (HA!), hands on mother… on and on it goes. There are ALWAYS excuses for her.
And yes, I personally think she’s a great mom; her kids seem very attached and well adjusted, and she seems to love being a mom. But they ARE her excuse.
Except, we do. I went back and looked a few months ago and there was only maybe one event related to Vogue, for example. But we know that was a months long project.
Meghan seems content to let the final project be the thing that counts, which is fine, but it means we are always going to have this discussion every year if so.
@Mac – That’s literally not true. The folks at vogue said she was there weekly to work on her magazine edition!!!! And do you think she just did the SmartSet in one meeting or with a wave of a wand? There is video evidence of her working on it behind the scenes! And how about all of the behind the scenes photos of Meghan in the Hub kitchens (wearing several different outfits)? There is clear evidence her work is not counted the same as Kate’s.
I am not making excuses for Meghan because I think she had a very respectable number for a year where she was off on maternity leave. She did 40 engagements less than Kate, plus launched two major projects. This year has been the year we keep hearing about how Kate has grown into her role and on and on. Instead, she has paltry numbers again and no big initiative that was supposedly going to be launched with her return from her last maternity leave.
2019 was supposed to be the year of Kate Middleton. At least that’s what all the PR told us in the fall of 2018 and early 2019. She didn’t even beat her highest total of 140 and that’s including meetings with Jason. She wasn’t on mat leave so why can’t she match William’s total? Are 200 engagements really going to cause her children to feel abandoned?
Didn’t come out that even landing in a place, and *walking across a tarmac* COUNTED as an ENGAGEMENT! And if they meet one person in the morning, and another an hour later, that is TWO events??? The numbers are literally stacked.
And Kate and Will getting off a plane counts for them as an “official” engagement but Meghan and Harry did not have an “official” welcome on their tour, so it didn’t count for them if I’m remembering correctly.
Kate made 79 public appearances this year. Those 126 events were done in 79 appearances and a handful of private meetings. She wasn’t on maternity leave, hell her two kids were even in school which should have freed up a lot of time for her to work.
This is further proof that “the year of Kate” was nothing more than PR. She didn’t do squat this year.
The trouble is that all they are counting are engagements done as representatives of the Queen. The reason that Harry and Meghan’s are low is because they do a lot privately. For example, Invictus is/was a private charity for Harry. (It’s sometimes counted now, so I’m not sure if he still considers it private) He talked about it in his US interviews years ago. How he was there as a soldier and not there as a Royal. He also has wanted a lot of his conservation work in Africa counted as private over the years. It has a lot to do with his relationship with the press. If he’s representing the Queen then the press are allowed, but if he isn’t then he can use that to keep them out of his face. William doesn’t do as much private work as Harry, but he actually does do some. Especially his work with Centrepoint. I think Meghan is also more comfortable with this approach because she likes to keep everything quiet until it’s ready to launch. So, the numbers should be considered the number of times each represented the Queen and not how often they were working. So, in theory it’s more like how much of the sovereign grant should any given Royal get vs Duchy money to fund their lifestyle. Sovereign grant is from the crown estates owned by the state and Duchy is privately held but not fully taxed. They should only get money from the grant if they are representing the Queen. Either way they get some tax payer money, but at least it’s not as direct when it comes from one of the duchies. Either way, the Royals will continue to live comfortably.
And I think Meghan and Harry are fine with this. They don’t strike me as bean counters.
I think H&M would rather their numbers be low than countin beans doing engagement that are meaningless to them. They’re not going to compete with anyone for any reason.
And speaking of competion, that explains why Kate hasn’t been in a flurry of activities at the end of the year as was expected. With Meghan’s expected low, she knew she didn’t have to do jack sh*t.
The thing that really matters is the quality and impact of the engagements not the numbers.
Even if you add up events that cant be quantified did their numbers get anywhere close to Charles or even their 93 year old grandmother. Meg was on mat leave so I give her a pass but all the young Royals are lazy. How do you let a 93 year old women out work you??
The real question is how you got your fired uncle to still out work you. Far bigger question
I’m with Omid.
Meghan’s work is detailed and has tangible results for the people she’s working with. The Smart Set probably had so many meetings and other aspects that weren’t counted. And the Vogue editor ship, the same. She highlighted many organizations/businesses that help people, like Luminary Bakery, that helped them expand their reach.
Also Harry does alot with his Invictus Games and Sentebale that aren’t counted on the CC.
@ Toot
In terms of genuine, measurable impact, I think Meghan swept all the other royals aside, with one hand tied behind her back.
She seems to focus on quality over quantity. Has 4 times the impact of the Cambridge initiatives (combined!), with 1/2, or is it even 1/3, of the number of published engagements.
Re Andrew and his 274 “engagements”, I bet meetings with foreign dictators and cold molesters in order to learn “how to make money” surely count as engagements?
Charles’ Trust and the Duchy of Cornwall have the biggest impact of all royal work. For H+M and W+K, their most impactful work this year was the text network for those in immediate need of mental health support. It isn’t as splashy as other projects, but it is filling a widespread need.
Let’s not forget his “Pitch in the Palace”, where he was using BP, AND found to be getting a cut of every deal made!
@Mac — I was about to type something, then decided to ignore…….someone has the audacity to compare H+M impact to W&K…….amazing really! Meghan alone……..I will stop there
So after comparing how innovative Meghan is versus Diana, now we are comparing M+H to Charles. Charles created the Prince’s Trust at 26; that’s 45 years ago. Meghan should be proud, her work of less than 2 years is already compared to Prince Charles work of decades……..that’s power right there LOL
Toot, I am with Omid also. The impact is the thing for Meghan and Harry. The impact. They actually care. You can tell, it is a huge difference. For years Will and Kate didn’t care and I would argue they disdained their work. Meghan and Harry have much more successful work. That cookbook!!!!! That was unreal to me. Meg is a smart cookie. Smart set?? Luminary. I am Canadian and actually know about British non-profits because of Meg. XO
I read the article about the private citizen who undertakes this work, and it was an interesting read. He cuts out every Court Circular posting, saves them, then adds them up at the end of the year. The thing is, it wholly depends on the CC; if something isn’t posted there, it is not part of his counting system. What’s funny is that in his earlier days of doing this (he’s been doing it for decades), the palace discouraged him from keeping track. Now they accept and use his numbers themselves, and laud his accuracy.
There’s things the royals do that don’t get counted in the CC. Harry’s Invictus, Meghan’s project meetings, William’s pub meeting, Shout stuff (maybe it has) etc etc. Was Kate’s midwife visit counted?
And yeah I find it weird how the palaces don’t publish an official count on the claims it’s not a competition, actually wrote to this guy politely discouraging him yet now are happily using his count
Charles is clearly preparing for the King role, if he manages to beat Anne, who always was the hardest working one.
Yes, l noticed that Charles was really increasing his workload in 2019. He is trying to reach out to more people and gain support for the future Prince Charles III.
Meghan doesn’t seem to count every time she breathes as an official event.
Kate’s garden counted for probably 80% of her numbers. Harry and Meghan seem like they don’t care about how many engagements are in the CC.
Don’t forget they counted taking their kids to school, kate miley cyrusing on a wrecking ball was counted too
Kate n her boss should stop pretending to do quality over quantity cos we haven’t seen anything tangible they did this year . All the young royals should get off their arses n work. As compared to the old ones their nos are pathetic.
I’m more interested in the IMPACT of these engagements! Like, it’s easy to rack up 500 engagements if in one day you can attend a quick breakfast, a meeting, lunch, two 15-minute garden drop-by’s and a dinner and count them all separate. And achieve little.
Whereas Meghan’s six months of work count as one engagement.
@EM, true but the kp couple ain’t doing that too. Their nos ain’t impressive n the little they do don’t have much impact. They lack the zeal and brains to do that, so they should just stop deceiving us and be like Princess Anne. In fact their lunatic n unintelligent fans will love that
Yet right above you wrote this
“Kate n her boss should stop pretending to do quality over quantity cos we haven’t seen anything tangible they did this year . All the young royals should get off their arses n work. As compared to the old ones their nos are pathetic.”
So you were implying all young royals are the same
1) Anne, I think Kate as well, should do the bread and butter; they are clearly not the creative types;
2) Charles should do both
3) William needs something like the Invictus/Sentabele or the Prince’s trust; so hope his new project leads to something
4) I think Meghan clearly favors projects but I think she should do some bread and butter stuffs as well
5) Harry looks to be more like his father/mother in terms of projects/initiatives; he should ramp up the bread and butter
Lurker from Glasgow here. This will probably be my only comment here.
I would be surprised if Harry and Meghan return to royal duties. I’d advise them to live in peace in Canada. It’ll be better than dealing with the disaster than awaits when Queen Elizabeth’s reign ends. Brexit and the recent poor judgement of the Queen regarding Andrew have doomed the monarchy. I know it sounds dramatic but I cannot see the UK public tolerating the disparities that come with the monarchy for much longer. Republican sentiment is higher than ever and that could very well spell doom the next time there’s a transition. Only one of the last three transitions was smooth and she’s 93 now….
Should the Cambs stay in Mustique and live in peace there? If the monarchy is going down then won’t that impact C & C and the Cambs much more than the Sussexes? Why the concern trolling?
Because I actually like the Sussexes. I hope they are not harmed in any way by the mess Harry’s useless grandmother, father, uncle, and brother are making of it all.
You know what? I’m going to the bookmakers to place 2 bets:
1) That the British Monarchy survives the next 25 years at least.
2) That the Queen lives another 10 years.
It’ll be interesting to see what odds I get on either event.
I can see the Queen making it to 100 and they having a big nation wide celebration all paid for by tax payers of course.
I think you will be on to winners with those bets.
Yeah, this list is pretty meaningless really. Wasn’t Kate (and Will’s) meeting at parent-teacher night counted? And the folks at Vogue said that Meghan was there for weekly meetings as she did her guest editing…none of which were counted? So…no. However, if this is the measuring stick that’s going to continue to be used then I hope for 2020 the Sussexes get credit for every meeting, etc, just like the Cambs!!
If the Sussexes want credit for every meeting, they have to ask for it – just like the Cambs do. They seem content to work regardless of “official” engagement count. it’s on them and their staff to request these things be added to the CC. Charles and Anne don’t even work as much as we think they do, they’re just adept at getting everything to count as a separate engagement. If they meet ten people in one day, that’s ten engagements, even if they’re all happening in the same place. Will be interesting to see what happens next year with the Sussexes fully independent of KP, without having staff who were primarily hired by the Cambridges decided what does and doesn’t get reported to the office that publishes the CC.
How do you know they’re not asking for it? How do you know they’re not submitting a long list of all of their meetings and they’re just not being posted? We’ve been told that the queen is the ultimate decider of what goes on the list…so how on earth do you know what the Sussexes have submitted or not submitted?
I believe that the Sussex’s don’t want to list every meeting they attend for their projects so that no information is leaked about that project until they are ready to present it.
It’s funny that all of the comments on the internet keep attacking Meghan for not working but skip over that Kate didn’t do much more. Especially considering Meghan was pregnant and on maternity leave most of the year.
It’s really racism.
And then when they do things, it’s not “groundbreaking” enough or “radical” or “not enough like Diana”….
YES to all three of you (Louise, Ninja, Maria). My goodness, it’s so damn tiring!!!
Clear as day racism. Textbook, dictionary version.
Perhaps Meghan doesn’t care about the numbers and prioritizes the work instead?
I talk about her because I think Harry is being labelled as hard working just for being married to Meghan.
Uh, no to that last statement. Harry already had Invictus and Sentebale under his belt when he met Meghan. Long before Meghan was in the picture, one of the criticisms of Will was that he’d often attach himself to Harry’s work. Not sure where you got the idea that Harry never worked hard.
@Beach Dreams. I agree with you 100%. Harry had two big projects before Meghan. Plus, he volunteers at MOD often and it is never counted (from what I have read in the past)
Meg’s attraction to Harry had a lot to do with his commitment to his causes. Meg admires people who work and who create an impact in the world. She liked Prince Charles immediately and respected the Queen. I will bet she liked Princess Anne too. These are all people who value work, though they didn’t know what real work was until they saw it in full display in Meghan, causing their self-esteem to crumble — at least the Queen’s.
So did they count each time William trimmed the Rose bushes, or was that just lumped into one event?
I think the “special platonic suppers” were probably each counted, lol.
It’s been reported that Meghan has no engagements in January. I hope the Sussex leave England. It’s obvious there’s jealousy. My goodness if Meghan becomes pregnant she can’t go through that BS again. I swear I thought they wanted her to miscarry. It was disgusting.
The vultures are going to be in full force upon their return. It’s going to be worse. These courtiers didn’t want this marriage or pregnancy. I dread to see their reaction upon the Sussex return! The Sussex had a few hiccups. Andrew had a tsunami yet as an outsider looking in where’s the petition? There’s more anti-website for Meghan by women. I don’t get. Something is wrong in that country. Meghan has brought interest and a new audience; I can’t believe the bullying and racism! England has dropped the ball big time. The Commonwealth is like wtf! Exile to Africa or go back to America the ignorance of these no class jerks! England is done. The bridge is coming down. World is controlled by stupidity!?
Where did you read she had no engagements in January? I haven’t seen it anywhere.
There is something to be said for quality over quantity. I’m sure Meghan has better results if we looked at impressions, donations etc. rather than simply number of engagements. Who is the most impactful royal?
My god. The tit for tat is exhausting. In the end the entire monarchy is a scam. Including whichever duchess is your fave. When the queen dies the house of Windsor should go with her. But I’m an American so my opinion doesn’t really matter.
Thank you. Scam is right. What they do is not work.
I’m with you. None of these show ponies actually work.
They function to look pretty and highlight causes, press the flesh, make people feel good and look past the gold pianos and further their own existence.
I have no skin in this game (as I suspect is the case for most around here) tax wise.
Yeah I agree. Showing up for some pictures all dressed up and getting a free lunch or dinner really isn’t work and definitely isn’t equal to the amount of money the Royals get from tax payers. I don’t understand why normal working Brits are ok with giving some of their paycheck away so Royals can have a rich life and do very little. It would be better if the tax dollars went directly to charities and just skip the Royal family photo ops and bullsh*t.
Exactly. Open up these houses and properties to the public. Sell off assets, use the money for good causes. More efficient than supporting these silly people so that they show up at ribbon cuttings. Not one person in that family deserves the lavish lifestyle they enjoy.
RIght. And imagine how much just heating their gargantous castles every month on end is on the public, all for two people, how silly. Even if we cutt off future funding this family will still be beyond excessively rich multi-millionaire- billionaire. This kind of institution may be good for some backward country but no country that wants to be progressive and humane. This excessive greed is just gross.
100% agree. Let the oldest form of nepotism finally die out
I agree. Let’s stop pretending these people work. I’m not actually trying to diminish some of the good they’ve done, but not one of them work as hard as anyone in my world. And the super rich people who were born into it don’t talk about how much work they do.
Right? I find it hilarious how posters on here are fighting over numbers. This is not work, they mainly make apperances.
Assuming they use the same metric for each royal – getting out of a car counts equally for everyone – I’m sorry, it is pathetic that the younger royals did less than the 90-something queen. And none of that “Kate is a mum” crap. She has nannies and her two oldest are in school. There are women with three or more children who work 10, 20 times what she does. And Harry isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, even factoring in the generous paternity leave.
Well, goodness me. I know that when I was pregnant and/or on maternity leave, I did stuff-all, beyond looking after baby, stopping the house from descending into a doss house, ensuring we didn’t starve or lose our friends due to smelly bodies or clothes. So hats off to the new mum and dad, who still managed 83 official duties.
Happy New Year to everyone! 🎉 🥳 🎈
Thoughts and prayers, AnnaKist. You’re about to get dragged. Even though you are correct.
Happy New Year AnnaKist and Mumbles. You make me laugh and I hope you both find some good laughs celebrating the new year.
Impact shimact.
How long has kate been on the job, 10 years?
She produces this ? Pitiful.
I’m okay with Meghan’s count being so low given the year she had. She was still very effective with what she did, and if you follow their IG you often see pics released well after the fact of meetings or things that they’ve done. I don’t know whether they count as ‘official’ or not, but since the BRF couldn’t be arsed to stop overtly blatant attacks against her but could rally around a rapist and hush up an affair, I’d keep my head down and enjoy my new baby too if I was in her position.
William and Harry’s numbers are absolutely pathetic as usual. There’s no reason they both shouldn’t be doing 500-600 engagements, and that should be on top of the behind the scenes things that don’t count as engagements.
I’ve never understood why so many people let Harry off the hook with ‘he does stuff that doesn’t count’. They’re all meant to do work beyond engagements. Charles and Anne do plenty of stuff that doesn’t count, and they have no problem managing a full public schedule as well. If you added all the stuff that doesn’t count Harry wouldn’t look any better because his elders would all get a boost as well.
Stop playing the numbers game. This is what they want us to do. When Ann shows up and cuts ribbons in one place and gives a speech in another, these count as bread and butter numbers. Meghan and Harry don’t do that. They do actual work! They hold meetings, come up with new ventures, plan, lead, organize, troubleshoot, guide, direct etc. they actually do more concrete work than all of the others. Ignore the noise.
Who’s to say that Anne, Charles etc aren’t planning things?
Wait … we are gonna bash ANN???? Of all the Royals to minimize in favor of … well,’anyone …. you picked Ann???? Ann who has been running circles around the herd for decades Ann????
I would like to see the real impact of Anne’s 500 plus engagements, l am not saying that people are not happy to see her but l think the impact of the Sussexes fewer engagements more than equals Anne 500 plus.
ITA. Anne has had no other job but to be one of the TQ’s good-will (‘see, we haven’t forgotten about you plebes’) ambassadors. Does anyone think either of her husbands could’ve supported her lifestyle and provided a home for her children as well? She lives in absolute luxury on an estate and with quarters in a London palace at the TQ’s expense. I’m not knocking her work effort, but if she can’t do a few tours or go out a few times a week to show her face to the public, shake hands, and chat up a few common folks along the way, then she would deserve to be called lazy like a couple of younger royals.
Kate and William are pathetic omg.
But why should they work more than they want to? I mean, if Charles and Anne want to, that’s great. But if William doesn’t, so what? There is no baseline amount of work required to be king. As long as William is Charles’ first born son (which he is), he’ll be king no matter what, as long as he outlives Charles. And Kate will be queen as long as she’s still married to William when he becomes king. Because of William’s *birth.* That (birth) is all that matters – not how smart they are, how much they work, how much they like (or don’t like) dealing with the common people. And it doesn’t matter whether any real, tangible “good” comes out of their work (I suspect very little of their work has any tangible results). So the “work numbers” thing seems dumb to me (sorry, but that’s how I feel). That is simply the price of having a monarchy.
I agree.
Happy New Years everyone!
Dont care much for these people, but I would beat myself if I were a 30 something ranking under 90 and 70 year olds lol
Meghan was pregnant so thats okay. As for the others yikes. Even expecting the baby Harry couldve dpne a lot more
I think the way the younger royals work more in-depth on projects as oppose to the bread and butter ribbon cutting and plaque unveiling events seems to work. Imaging if Meghan attended 500+ engagements a year, she literally would be everywhere all the time. The younger royals are already over exposed. That number is ok for the likes of Anne and Sophie because their work doesn’t generate that much exposer, so they can just appear, cut a ribbon and leave without much fuss and get multiple events down in one day, Also if the younger royals were out that much, the security bill would be much higher. The older royals wouldn’t suit doing in-depth projects like smartworks because it would be a waste of time as they don’t bring that much attention and awareness like the younger royals.
Why does this page always have negative things to say about the Cambridges but niente to say about the Sussexes. You complain that the Sussexes are treated unfairly but you yourself hold the Cambridges to a different standard. Be consistent. Either criticize and praise both of them- or don’t mention them at all.
You may want to go to the Daily Mail comment section. They loath the Sussex’s and praise the Cambridge’s. There are people that just don’t like the Cambridge’s and that’s before Meghan.
Why should anyone have to go to another site because they don’t loathe the Cambridge’s? I don’t understand the logic, this site depends on traffic and used to be my favorite place for intelligent discourse even with differing opinions. It’s still my most frequent stop even though royal threads are treacherous.
The DM is virulent … we are supposed to be better.
This site has been critical of William and Kate for years and well before Meghan ever met Harry. Mostly because the same excuses about doing little work but being keen have been going on since 2011. Many people have pointed out for years that Sophie is a mother of young kids and she managed hundreds of engagements when they were still very young. Even the year she almost died giving birth to Louise.
And there are some critical comments about Sussex workload, especially Harry, so it’s false to pretend otherwise. And comments criticizing the monarchy in general are here too. So pretending that there is never any criticism of the Sussexes, is a bad faith argument.
If you want blind adoration of the Cambridges there are plenty of sites for that. This hasn’t been one of them.
Very true!
If the press takes a picture of Kate it counts as work and therefore their family is owed a vacation. Please stop bringing Meghan into this she was on maternity and she gets less funding and 100x more of the brunt from the public, she has managed to network more than Kate who gets other people to do that, and considering she is in a lesser position her numbers should be less than Sophie’s. Btw Happy New Year Everyone!!
The royals make appearances for God’s sake! They DO NOT work!
@NIC919
“2019 was supposed to be the year of Kate Middleton. At least that’s what all the PR told us in the fall of 2018 and early 2019. She didn’t even beat her highest total of 140 and that’s including meetings with Jason. She wasn’t on mat leave so why can’t she match William’s total? Are 200 engagements really going to cause her children to feel abandoned?”
I agree with you. After all the PR fluff pieces I’m not suprised they ended up with another uneventful year for the cambridges. I mean even the “big announcement” was a big fail🤦♀️
I agree with what omid said. The impact is much more important than numbers. If you asked me about Charles’s work this year I could only remember him opening a duchy b&b but not any impact he had!! This is the same with anne.
The cambridges enjoyed the luxury of having RRs on a leash so theyre getting a pass for their low work as future prince/princess of wales.
The trash tabloids are still comparing them with the Sussexs even when CC and royal website doesn’t always report harry and Meghan’s work(ex them putting the cambridges meeting jason their own head of staff or that W&K met with the nhs mental health advert director when it’s a joint project and highly likely the Sussexs did as well but didnt report theirs)
No real comment on this since a lot of good points made on quality, vs. quantity. Some questions like how are tours counted, since those have a lot involved, and Meghan and Harry do seem to actually put in a lot of time for their individual projects. For the high numbers of Charles, Anne, etc, what exactly is that? Does that mean showing up at events like state dinners, visiting a charity and shaking hands for a few hours? Charles has a lot more going on and a ton of patronage’s, as well as representing for the Queen more. Plus actual state related stuff. I sort of feel, and not just because of maternity leave, that Meghan and Harry were sort of held back from doing the state events, not just the awful Trump visits. I would love for them to boost their numbers and squeeze in more official small handshake visits between the bigger projects and tours. However, is this dependent on the number of patronage’s, because Meghan only has 6 so far? Hopefully they’ll take over a few more and make more appearances. There is definitely some sort of reset happening after the Andrew debacle and the current embiggening the past few weeks of the “ heirs” , while the Sussexes are away and out of the picture.
Miscall the Cambridges on here all you like but leave Charles out of it. His Prince’s Trust has raised millions for charity. He has also done a fantastic amount of work promoting organic food, the environment etc. He also does a lot of work behind the scenes to do with the running of the royal estates. The royal tours are all about promoting Britain overseas and also building fences with other countries.
Anne, Sophie etc do a lot of the bread and butter royal work. We don’t just want royals concerned with niche projects who stay in London the whole time. Remember too that the country, at the moment anyway, is the UK or Britain. It is NOT ” England”.
Sorry but in my last post, I should have mentioned that Anne does a lot more than just cut ribbons. Don’t you know about the huge amount of charity work she does for Save the Children for whom she has gone on tours, Riding for the Disabled? There are dozens more but I have personal experience of these two. You should Google her and her charity work. Edward has also taken on the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which encourages young people to do outdoor stuff, voluntary work, new skills, endurance feats etc. Hundreds of thousands of young British people have taken part.
I know Meghan is doing groundbreaking work but it is like baby steps compared to what some of the royals do.
It apparently helps charities immensely just to have some royal figurehead’s name on their headed paper so it does help if a particular royal takes on a lot of patronages.
If the younger royals don’t step up a lot of charities are going to suffer.
All Royals do private meetings with their charities and events. Meghan didn’t do much at all. This isn’t something only Meghan does it is common practice. People seem to think she is the hardest working she isn’t anywhere near that. The Queen did nearly 300 events and that doesn’t include her doing the red boxes which is all paperwork from Parliment. They count the events that are printed in the Court Circular the man has been doing it for 40 years and it is an accurate account. They young royals need to step up. All of them.
@Dottie,
Most readers here are not stupid, and it’s beyond ridiculous when simple comments like “Meghan didn’t do much at all” pop up in a thread about royal work. Did you forget what year this count was for and that she was pregnant, then took some maternity leave in 2019? Perhaps you should stop with the Meghan-bashing nonsense until you decide you’re going to be fair and specifically call out Katie Keen as well.
Olenna, you are absolutely 💯 correct. These new posters must be reminded that Meghan did not take off seven years after marriage to “adjust to royal life.”
Happy New Year.
Wasn’t Meghan pregnant and on maternity leave for the first half of the year, as well as having just recently joined the Royal family. If she only has 6 patronage’s, how much can she do in terms of official appearances? Can she just say give her 20 more patronage’s or are those assigned by the Queen. As for Kate and William, they could do more being the future heads of states, but if no one really seems bothered by it, why should they? They’re getting very good press, “haven’t put a foot wrong” , and no ones really complaining so it is what it is with them. Apart from William, Harry and their wives, there are no other younger Royals to pick up the slack. The York girls are part-timers and on the outs because of Andrew, Edward technically is relatively young, but the press treat him and Sophie like old geezers. Also, the royal family themselves seem to want the younger Royals to do the big publicity and splashy events, not the more day to day, ribbon cutting, press the flesh with the old monarchist types in the hinterlands.
I have been googling Anne further and I see she is involved with over 300 charities, different organisations, the military etc in Britain and overseas. She has visited many countries abroad in relation to Save the Children – countries in Africa, China etc. In doing so she didn’t stay in glam hotels or residences but tents with no facilities. I know Diana once said she could never have done what Anne did. She has set up many charities/organisations including one to help carers. Imagine all the “private meetings” that takes. If you look at the court circular Anne’s days are packed with activities in all different parts of Britain.
Meghan did over 80 engagements this year, Kate about 116, Harry and William did around 200. Anne and Charles did over 500 engagements plus a load of other stuff as well. As has been said our 93 year old Queen did nearly 300 engagements, admittedly a lot indoors but also all her government paperwork. Sophie, the Kent’s, the
Gloucesters , even Camilla all do unsung work. Let’s get this into perspective our young royals are a disgrace.
Yes, so Ann has over 300 charities? Well she held about 500 engagements. Meghan has 6 charities and held 80 engagements (not including those not reported) Tell me again, who puts in more effort per charity.
Regardless, the CC has zero credibility because they pick and choose which engagements to include and for which family members, so there is a clear bias.
Sorry Royalblue but you really should acquaint yourself properly with the subject before making such random, senseless comments. Please Google it. Remember too Anne has been working at this level for over 50 years.
@CAROLIND
You’re contradicting yourself there! Your earlier statements started comparing Meghan to Anne and Sophie’s workload when neither is a new royal member like Meghan👇
“I know Meghan is doing groundbreaking work but it is like baby steps compared to what some of the royals do.”
You also dismiss Meghan’s behind the scenes work but credit Charles with unreported work for duchy👇
“He also does a lot of work behind the scenes to do with the running of the royal estates.”
We have to be FAIR. Yes we should criticise the young royals for their low performance but its NOT FAIR to ONLY criticise Meghan (who’s only a royal for 19months) when others who have been on the job for 9yrs are doing the same!
Oh help! I have nothing against Meghan. But as you say she is new. Please just accept that. I think the Cambridges are lazy and Harry doesn’t do a lot either. I cannot see any of the young royals reaching the heights of Charles and Anne nor the present Queen.
The young royals are getting praised for initiatives but Charles and Anne, the Queen and D of E have really done it all. The Prince’s Trust created by Charles has raised more than a billion. I had no idea Anne had done all stuff about carers etc.
I see you are proud of Meghan and I would love her to do well in the royal family. It is easy to compare her to the Cambridges and find them lacking because they are. But Meghan has still to prove herself.
I am British (Scottish) and I have very mixed feelings about the royals but credit should be given to those who do the job well like the royals I have been mentioning.
I would be soft though if I read comments about Meghan sweeping all before her when she has not really done enough yet to prove herself and there are older royals who work very hard at what they do.
The race thing is hideous and makes me sick but please realise it is going on in tons of countries. We should each of us try and stop it in our own area of the world.
Miriam, I don’t think I did compare Meghan’s workload with Sophie etc. We do need royals though who can go out and do ordinary engagements as well as the more glamorous concentrating on one thing engagements. Charles, Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh had huge specific charities but in between they also did a huge amount of ordinary stuff. The younger royals only do the niche stuff. The Cambridges and maybe Harry also don’t do enough for the tremendous rewards they are getting.
Just one last thing. It is not just the Duchy that Charles does behind the scenes. The D of E used to look after the running of the Windsor estates but I don’t think he can be doing that now. The Queen did Balmoral but there is also Sandringham although those are their own homes. Charles also used to put in a vast amount of time though interfering into what the politicians were doing. He wrote vast numbers of letters to Govt Depts about stuff to get action falling asleep at his desk at midnight. Some say he should not have been doing this but it showed he cared.
I guess Kate worked smart not hard to have racked up so many work engagements.
Also, I am ready for Charles to be king now. I am so eager for a coronation in my lifetime.
@CAROLIND
AGAIN,you’re UNFAIRLY singling out Meghan even when you admit that she’s new royal!!! I think its beyond clear that we agree that ALL young royals aren’t doing enough but why expect only Meghan to do things differently?!
Your statement hints you dont like Meghan (which is fine), but👇hints that you are uncomfortable with seeing Meghan praised for her accomplishments this year(even whilst praising Charles for Prince’s Trust)😐
“I would be soft though if I read comments about Meghan sweeping all before her when she has not really done enough yet to prove herself and there are older royals who work very hard at what they do.”
And in another paragraph👇 you say shes only into “glamorous” things and doesnt do ordinary visits (which is untrue)!!!
“We do need royals though who can go out and do ordinary engagements as well as the more glamorous concentrating on one thing engagements.”
I understand that older generations expect certain things like opening centres and ribbon cutting events(which the cambridges like), I think it’s clear at this point how the Sussex couple prefer to do QUALITY before QUANTITY! We have actually seen Meghan do visits like to senior home backed by royal variety, luminary bakery,hubb kitchen, the one25 women’s charity..etc which were NOT her patronages.
2020 is Kate’s year!!!!…..don’t hold your breath
No, this is unfair. I am not singling Meghan out but stuff I am saying which applies to all the younger royals you are taking as applying purely to Meghan. I know what is true in my heart. I am being honest when I say I would love her to do well in the royal family. Equally I am not going to say that any of the younger royals are great when there are so many older ones doing better. They all have special interest groups but we only hear about those.applying to the younger royals. You should Google them all individually. Equally, I am saying they are the royal family of all of Britain so they must do activities which appeal to all people. When they open something now it is stuff like a hospice which had been renovated (the hospice where I do voluntary work and ironically by Prince Andrew) something rebuilt after flood damage etc.
It could be that the younger ones will grow in stature and some of what they do is well worth praise but they are not doing better than the older royals. To make it clear this is not just Meghan but William, Kate and Harry too. I am leaving it now.