He's really throne himself into it...

REVEALING the dreaded news he had cancer, the nation expected King Charles would hand the reins to the younger royals.

- BY RUSSELL MYERS Royal Editor and JENNIFER NEWTON

But he has resolutely refused to allow the disease, or an exhausting diary of engagements, to beat him.

At 77, he has been crowned the hardest-working royal of 2025, clocking up an impressive 532 engagements — 50 more than his sister Princess Anne, famed for her work ethic.

It means out of the 2,458 official royal engagements this year, the King carried out almost a quarter (22%).

His engagements have taken him up and down the country as well as trips to Italy to meet Pope Leo XIV, Canada and Poland, for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The King stepped up his workload at the start of the year following positive progress with his cancer care. And despite a “minor bump” requiring a short stay in hospital to treat side-effects in March, he has ploughed on.

Just last week, he shared the good news that in the New Year his cancer treatment will be scaled back.

Analysis of the Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements, shows 75-year-old Anne, despite working more days than her brother — 186 - carried out 478 duties. Next came the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, 61, on 313 followed by his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, 60, in fourth on 235. Queen Camilla, 78, was fifth on 228.

DUTY