Is Kate pulling her weight on royal duties?
She attends 76 public engagements while Philip, aged 93, turns up at 200
THE Duchess of Cambridge has carried out only about a third as many public engagements as 93- year- old Prince Philip this year.
Kate, 32, who is expecting her second child in April, undertook 76 visits, meetings and receptions in 2014 following the birth of her son, Prince George.
But the Queen’s husband shouldered more than 200 engagements, despite suffering regular periods of ill health in recent years, an unofficial survey of annual royal duties by the Daily Mail shows.
Kate’s tally of public duties is also barely a fifth of the number undertaken by the Queen, 88. She has conducted around 375, sometimes packing in six or more a day.
In fact, the duchess performed the fewest public duties out of the 15 royals whose activities are listed daily on the Court Circular.
Aides have always insisted that Kate wants to focus her efforts on being a wife and mother for the first few years of her royal life. She does undertake a small number of carefully chosen public duties for charities she is intimately involved in such as East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.
Sources close to Kate insist she has the backing of the Queen, who is happy to afford her grandson and his wife time to enjoy the early years of their married life together before a lifetime of public duty. They say she is also fully supportive of Prince William’s decision to have a full-time job outside the Royal Family.
Earlier this year he gave up his role as an RAF rescue pilot and next spring will begin a new job with a civilian air ambulance force.
Other courtiers point out that, for the first time in more than 100 years, there are three living generations of heirs to the throne in addition to the Queen’s other children and their families.
‘There are more than enough senior members of the Royal Family to undertake the annual number of public duties required,’ said one.
William, who is second in line to the throne, almost doubled his number of engagements this year from just over 60 to 111. He has also taken on some of his grandmother’s more taxing duties, notably public investitures.
The tally is still significantly less than other royals because of his full-time military role.
Despite a drop in duties, Charles was still the hardest working royal with more than 450 public duties listed on the Court Circular. He was closely followed by his sister, Princess Anne, with around 419.
Prince Andrew saw a drop in duties to 297 over the year with an increasing number of trips abroad to countries including China. His younger brother, Prince Edward, has also had a productive year with 348 engagements.
‘Enjoying married life’