Kate Middleton and Prince William are set for a busy period ahead as the monarchy is more slimmed down than ever, says a royal source.
- The Prince and Princess of Wales have taken on more royal responsibility since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to the US in 2020.
- According to a royal expert, soon William and Kate 'will be the only ones' who can 'carry the can for the crown on the world stage.'
- In other royal news, Kate Middleton has shared a never seen before picture of the young Queen at Christmas.
Daniela Elser has said that the future of the monarchy is looking 'gloomy', and predicts that William and Kate will take on a great deal more work thanks to a lack of senior royals.
She said, "The remaining HRHs are going to be stretched ever thinner. Look a little further into the future and the picture gets even gloomier.
"King Charles and Queen Camilla have only about a decade of international tours left in them, leaving only William and Kate to carry the can for the crown on the world stage."
She added that therefore, in another ten years, there will be even less working royals. "Meanwhile, at home in the UK, by the 2030s, aside from the King and Queen, the Waleses and the Wessexes, the only other remaining name on the official working roster will be the indomitable Princess Anne," Daniela explained.
She continued, "All this will be going on while the Waleses are busy trying to focus on their legacy, big-picture projects, William’s Earthshot Prize and Kate’s Early Years Foundation. How the dickens are they going to be able to fit it all in and occasionally sleep?"
But despite potentially taking on even more responsibility and royal work, neither William nor Kate were crowned as the hardest-working royal in 2022.
In fact, it was Princess Anne who took the title. The Princess Royal, who lives at Gatcombe Park, attended 214 yearly royal engagements in 2022, compared to King Charles' 181 events - even though Charles spent most of the year next in line to the throne in the line of royal succession.
King Charles III ranks in second place, having taken part in 181 royal engagements in 2022. Prince Edward ended the year in third with 143, while wife Sophie completed 138. The Prince of Wales ended up in fifth place, taking part in 126 events.
And Kate made just 90 appearances, falling behind Queen Consort Camilla, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duchess of Gloucester.
Yesterday, the Waleses took part in the annual Christmas Day walkabout - which went ahead for the first time since 2019 - at Sandringham, where Kate got in the festive spirit in a modern green coat and brimmed hat.
Led by King Charles and Camilla Queen Consort, Prince William and Princess Kate were accompanied by all three of their children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and, for the first time, Prince Louis, four.
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