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Working royals carry out more than 3,000 engagements annually but none work harder than one family member who doesn’t garner a ton of headlines for it and that’s Princess Anne. Now a former royal employee who worked in the royal household for decades believes that King Charles III‘s “long-suffering” sister may finally be getting the recognition she deserves.

Here’s more on that, plus how Anne puts other members of the Firm to shame with the number of engagements she completes.

Princess Anne, who a former royal butler says works harder than King Charles, chat on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Trooping the Colour
Princess Anne and now-King Charles chat on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Trooping the Colour | Anwar Hussein/WireImage

Charles’ former employee says Princess Anne ‘works harder than the king himself’

Princess Anne has consistently been named the hardest-working royal nearly every year. In 2022, she carried out 214 engagements more than her youngest brother Prince Edward and his wife Sophie who completed 143 royal engagements, and Prince William who completed 138. The Princess Royal even carried more engagements than the king who attended 181 royal outings such as charity events, award ceremonies, memorials, and luncheons.

Paul Burrell, who worked as Queen Elizabeth II’s personal footman until he was moved to Charles and Princess Diana’s household in 1987, explained that Anne is finally being recognized for her hard work.

Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie Burrell said: “At last, she’s being recognized for all the hard work that she does. In fact, she probably works harder than the king himself and she’s never had any recognition before. Now the king is letting her step up to the plate and is saying ‘This is my sister who is long-suffering and hard-working and nobody ever says thank you.'”

Princess Anne and King Charles III laughing during the Braemar Highland Gathering
Princess Anne and King Charles III laughing during the Braemar Highland Gathering | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

“For once, someone is recognizing her selfless duty to the public, hooray! Why she isn’t further up the line of succession, I just don’t know because she should be.” 

When Anne was born she was third in the line of succession to the British throne. Today she is 17th, having moved down in the order after each of her brothers had children and grandchildren.

Anne is part of the king’s ‘slimmed down monarchy’

After months of wondering who was in and who was out under King Charles’ new “slimmed down monarchy,” we got our answer with a balcony appearance following the monarch’s coronation ceremony.

Princess Anne and members of the royal family standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the coronation ceremony of King Charles III
Princess Anne and members of the royal family standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the coronation ceremony of King Charles III | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Joining Charles and Queen Camilla (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles) on the balcony were Prince William and Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) with their three children, Prince Edward and his wife the Duchess of Edinburgh (formerly Sophie, Countess of Wessex) as well as Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence.

While Laurence is not a working royal, he accompanies Anne on many of her duties and engagements and has been described as the “invisible” family member because we don’t hear from him. However, he’s no stranger to the royal spotlight or balcony appearances where he has stood next to his wife for just about every royal event over the years.