Princess Anne recently attended the Oxford Farming Conference in her role as Honourary President of the organisation.
As the conference closed out its second day, the Princess Royal delivered a speech…
Crediton Milling, a family-run, animal feed organisation, attended the conference and later posted to Twitter sharing that Anne’s speech emphasised how “farming as a family enterprise understands long-term value”.
Princess Anne’s attendance makes her the first royal to return to duties in 2024.
WATCH NOW: King Charles sneaks up on Princess Anne during royal function. Article continues after video.
She may not be the reigning monarch, but Princess Anne is well and truly making her mark on behalf of the crown… the 73-year-old was officially named as the “hardest working royal” for 2023.
The title has been bestowed upon the Princess Royal by the Sunday Telegraph, who analysed all of the public engagements and official meetings working members of The Royal Family have undertaken in the last 12 months.
In 2023 alone, Princess Anne carried out an impressive 457 official engagements, 32 more than her brother King Charles who only undertook 425.
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In third place was Queen Camilla who attended 233 and in fourth place Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh who carried out 297 engagements.
According to the data, Prince William only attended 172 and 128 respective engagements this year, numbers that pale in comparison to the more senior working royals, many of whom have passed the age of retirement.
Steadfast in her support for her older brother, Princess Anne was a pillar of support for him as he assumed the mantle as King of England and the Commonwealth.
Breaking down the data, the mother of two was taking part in an average of 12 to 14 official engagements per week, her busiest months of the year taking place in February where she also spent time in both Australia and New Zealand.
Royal Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams described Anne as “invaluable” to the monarchy when unpacking the data with the Sunday Telegraph.
“Anne is one of the best advertisements for The Royal Family because she is hardworking, she is dedicated and she is popular because people look at the way she handles things and they like it.”
“The public see[s] Anne as someone who is grounded, I think the institution does need her very much.”
“[Although] it’s a problem that only 4 working royals are under 70,” he also later shared to his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
WATCH NOW: Princess Anne helps the Queen on a Zoom call. Article continues after video.
In 2022, Princess Anne was also named the “hardest working” working royal, carrying out a staggering 214 engagements.
Currently, there are 11 working members of the royal family. These include King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess Anne, the Duke of Kent (both Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin), Princess Alexandra (Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin), alongside the Duke (another cousin to the late Queen) and Duchess of Gloucester.
Considering all bar four are over the age of 60, it will be curious to see how the monarchy will continue to carry out engagements as the oldest royals eventually retire, hopefully not too long before Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis come of age can share the load.
