Princess Anne has more than once been named the official hardest-working member of the Royal Family, and if her January schedule is anything to go by it’s easy to see why.
With King Charles and Princess Kate temporarily out of action due to their health concerns, and Prince William taking a step back to care for his family, other working royals are likely to take up extra duties in the next few weeks.
In 2022 the Princess Royal was added to the list of Counsellors of State, meaning she can act on behalf of the King should be become incapacitated, with Queen Camilla and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh also being tipped for more royal obligations.
Anne is known to schedule several commitments in a day, and was also the first royal to embark on a visit abroad just a few days into the New Year.
She flew to Sri Lanka with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence for a three-day visit at the request of the Foreign Office as the UK marks 75 years of diplomatic relations with the South Asian island nation.
Anne immediately won praise for her down-to-earth attitude as soon as she touched down, as she was seen carrying her own bags off the plane.
During their trip the royal couple spent time in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna, meeting the Sri Lanka president and visiting several of Anne’s charities out there.
Andrew Patrick, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, said at the time of her arrival: “That’s the aim –to show her as much of the country, as much of the diversity as we can.
“And we think it’s the first visit by a member of the Royal Family to Jaffna, certainly in many, many years, so that will be historic.”
Over the course of the last week Anne has had several royal engagements, with her carrying out three visits on Tuesday in London alone.
First she opened the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Sciences at Imperial College NHS Trust’s Hammersmith site, before attending a Thanksgiving service at All Hallows by the Tower of London.
She then finished the day at a reception at Yeomanry House, which she was invited to as part of her role as Royal Honorary Colonel of the University of London Officers’ Training Corps.
On Wednesday the Princess stood in for the King at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, where she honoured the director of royal film The Crown Sir Stephen Frears.
She also visited the London office of Save the Children, where she delighted royal fashion fans with her stunning green dogtooth jacket, before her engagement at Cox Workshops Limited in North London as part of her role as President of the City and Guilds of London Institute.
Then on Thursday Anne headed up to Norfolk to visit Cromer Station and then opened Norfolk Schools Sailing Association’s new facilities in Filby, near Great Yarmouth before finishing the day at HM Prison Norwich.
