Another rollercoaster year for Royal Family

IT was supposed to be a year of consolidation after the brutal events of 2024.

- EMILY FERGUSON

Starting this year as he meant to go on, the King did not take respite in January as his late mother Queen Elizabeth II used to.Instead the 77-year-old threw himself into his official duties, becoming the first reigning monarch to visit Auschwitz concentration camp as he joined commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation.

Palace aides had confirmed the King would be resuming a normal schedule of engagements this year despite his ongoing cancer treatment, while the Princess of Wales announced she was in remission just days into the new year.

There followed a busy year as Charles travelled all over the country meeting the public, as well as hosting three inbound state visits at Windsor Castle.

In fact, the King clocked up more engagements than any other senior royal this year, an impressive 532 over the past 12 months - 50 more than Princess Anne, who usually tops the list of the hardest-working members of the Firm.

“He has certainly not let the grass grow under his feet,” says Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine.

“That in itself is a good sign that he feels able to do all these things.”

The Royal Family appeared to be back on their feet following a tumultuous 2024, described as the King's “annus horribilis”.

The Firm had faced the cancer diagnoses of both the monarch and Princess Catherine, Anne’s admission to intensive care following a head injury, and the tragic sudden death of Thomas Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

But this year was to be different, and the King’s brief admission to hospital in March was described by sources as a mere “bump in the road”.

Just days later he was undertaking a royal tour to Italy with wife Camilla, which included working through their 20th wedding anniversary.