Royals power up as Queen takes a break
THE Royal Family has had its busiest start to a year in at least five years amid a shift in responsibilities to a younger generation.
Analysis of the Court Circular, the official list of royal engagements, shows that Prince Charles and his brother Prince Edward are leading the charge so far in 2018.
But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are also doing far more than in previous years.
Charles has undertaken 75 duties in the UK, Edward, 67 including trips to Sri Lanka and India, and Princess Anne, who has been at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, has attended 58 engagements.
So far this year, the royals have completed 482 duties and by the end of this month it will be at least 507.
Last year the entire family undertook only 394 duties in January and February. In 2016 it was 383, in 2015 450 and in 2014, 452.
Part of the reason is that William, 35, and Kate, 36, have been catching up on royal visits they postponed in the autumn when the Duchess, who is seven months pregnant, was suffering from morning sickness.
Last year the Queen cut back on her royal duties by about 11 per cent and Prince Philip retired. Palace officials said the rest of the working members of the family would take up the slack between them.
In the summer William finished his part-time role as an air ambulance pilot to focus full-time on royal duties but his number of annual engagements barely changed. This year he will have completed at least 40 royal engagements by the end of this month. In the last few years he has managed four, 13, four, and eight in the same period.
His brother Harry is heading for 21 engagements in the first two months of the year following four, seven, three, and 18 in the previous years. Kate is heading for 34 engagements by the end of this month, compared to three, 14, seven, and 14 in previous years.
But the Duchess, who is due to give birth to her third child in April, plans to restrict her duties to a few family appearances such as Trooping the Colour once she has had her baby.
When she returns from maternity leave, she will promote causes close to her heart, such as early intervention to help vulnerable children and their mothers.