His Royal Highness Prince Charles conducted more than 500 royal engagements in 2017 as he increasingly stepped in to allow The Queen to cut back on her commitments and travel. It’s now been revealed that as part of his taking on more royal responsibility from his mother, Prince Charles will be stepping back from some of his charitable affiliations and work as he approaches his 70th birthday in November of this year.
Prince Charles carried out 546 royal engagements in 2017, claiming the title of ‘busiest royal’, and as his royal commitments grew his charitable donations to causes he supports decreased from £7.7 million in 2016 to £3.1 million. A Clarence House spokesperson has shared that the heir to the throne was reviewing his charities and the decline is reflective of his increasing workload as he supports Her Majesty.
The spokesman also said that: “The approach of the Prince’s 70th birthday provided a sensible opportunity to review his charities to ensure that they continue to deliver the maximum benefit for those people they were set up to help.
“The review was also designed to ensure the Prince’s involvement was at the right level and had the right focus. This will ensure that the charities become sustainable with less necessity for the engagement of HRH on a day-to-day basis, and will contribute in building a lasting legacy of his philanthropic work.”
Charles was busier than ever in 2017 as he frequently stepped in to support his mother, who has been slowly scaling back her duties over the past few years and cut her official engagements from 332 in 2016 down to 296 in 2017, a decrease of 11 per cent. He also took on more responsibilities following the retirement of his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, from royal duties in August.
What does he actually do that he’s ” cutting back on”??
Imagine your calendar being filled with 2-5 appointments 300 days out of 365 to meet with strangers and chat them up, being smiling and having to show interest in whatever the function is – rock displays, quilts, candle making, etc. That is work. And of course, there are the nutjobs who are trying to kill you 24/365.