The number of public engagements carried out by Britain’s royal family dropped sharply in the year leading up to March 2025, official documents showed, reflecting the effect of the cancer diagnoses of two of its most prominent members, King Charles III and Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
Members of the monarchy undertook more than 1,900 engagements in Britain and abroad in total, according to the sovereign grant report, a yearly accounting document from Buckingham Palace that was published on Monday.
That is significantly fewer than the 2,300 events they attended in the previous year, a number that was well below the 3,200 official engagements managed by Queen Elizabeth II and her family before the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the health difficulties of senior members of the royal family, the document stressed that the monarchy’s regular routine of outreach and engagements continued. More than 93,000 guests attended 828 events at royal palaces during the 12-month period, it said.
“Soft power is hard to measure, but its value is, I believe, now firmly understood at home and abroad as the core themes of the new reign have come into even sharper focus,” James Chalmers, who has overall responsibility for the management of the monarch’s financial affairs, said in a statement accompanying the sovereign grant report.
King Charles announced in February 2024 that he had received a diagnosis for an undisclosed form of cancer. But he resumed royal duties in May that year and has attended several high-profile events since then. They included a meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth in Samoa and, more recently, a two-day visit to Canada, where the king opened Parliament.
In March 2024, Catherine, Prince William’s wife, announced her cancer diagnosis in a prerecorded video broadcast, and she, too, has since resumed public duties. A separate statement from Kensington Palace said that Catherine’s “treatment and recovery was a key focus of 2024, but since last autumn, Her Royal Highness has been making a gradual return to work, including with a program of public engagements.”
Those included hosting a Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey that brought together 1,600 people from across Britain.
Among other details that emerged from the report was a decision to decommission the royal family’s dedicated train, which was used by members of the monarchy for journeys in the country and was part of the family’s storied history.
Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to commission a private set of railroad carriages — some decorated in 23-karat gold and blue silk — although she refused to eat onboard, considering it bad for her digestion.
The current royal train came into service for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, in 1977, and, in addition to a dining car, has sitting rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms.
Its use is costly, however, and is thought to be about four times as expensive as traveling by plane. A review of the train’s future was begun after Queen Elizabeth’s death, in 2022, the first indication that its future was in doubt.
The sovereign grant report also revealed that 21.5 million pounds ($29.5 million) in revenue was generated by 10,735 visitors to Buckingham Palace and its recently refurbished east wing.
Modernization work on the palace continues, with almost nine miles of electrical cabling and more than 12 miles of mechanical piping installed, alongside new lifts and accessible lavatories, the document said.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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