King Charles III carried out official engagements on 175 days in the past 12 months, an increase from previous years, even after Buckingham Palace disclosed in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with a form of cancer and was receiving regular treatment.
The figures, compiled by the PA news agency from the Court Circular — the official record of the royal family's activities — mark the busiest year of the King's reign so far by number of days engaged. They compare with 133 days in the previous 12-month period and 161 days in his first year as monarch. The period also included the 1,000th day of his reign and the 20th wedding anniversary of the King and Queen Camilla.
The past year saw the monarch travel farther from the UK than in any previous year of his reign. In October 2024 he flew to Australia and then to the Pacific island of Samoa to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In May 2025 he spent two days in Canada, opening the current session of parliament. He visited Poland on Jan. 27, 2025, to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
April 2025 brought a four-day visit to Italy in which Charles addressed the Italian parliament — one of several historic foreign appearances since his accession. In 2023 he became the first serving British monarch to address the French Senate and the German Bundestag. His overseas programme this year also included meetings with visiting and resident heads of state and government, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in June 2025 and French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
Domestically, the King maintained a broad calendar of engagements across the United Kingdom, visiting towns and cities including Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough, and travelling to locations as geographically distant as Lossiemouth in northern Scotland, Banbridge in County Down, and Deal in Kent. One engagement took him to the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in the English Channel ahead of its deployment to Japan.
Charles held 22 formal audiences with the prime minister during the year — the same number as in his second year on the throne and four fewer than the 26 audiences recorded in his first year. The period under review was the first full year of the King's reign not to include a change of prime minister; Sir Keir Starmer has been in office since July 5, 2024.
Buckingham Palace's February 2024 announcement of the King's cancer diagnosis was followed by a period in March and April 2024 when he was largely out of public view, but the analysis shows he continued to hold one-to-one audiences with senior figures from charities, businesses and international envoys throughout the past three years. The Court Circular records regular formal audiences with ambassadors, high commissioners and visiting leaders.
The analysis of royal duties also highlights the workload of other senior royals. Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, performed engagements on 189 days in the past year — more than any other senior working member of the family. The Duke of Edinburgh carried out engagements on 129 days, the Duchess of Edinburgh on 117 days, the Prince of Wales on 107 days and the Princess of Wales on 37 days.
The figures provide an official snapshot of the monarchy's public-facing activity during a period marked by the King's treatment and recovery, continued foreign-state relations and a high domestic tempo of duties. The Court Circular-based totals are intended as a record of engagements rather than a measure of the length or intensity of each involvement.