The Danish tabloid newspaper Ekstra Bladet has asked this question and didn’t only take a close look at their own royal family but also at the royal families of their Scandinavian neighbors and of course the British royals. We are sad to say that Kate Middleton and Prince William rank far down the list of active Royals – seems we can truly say that Waity Katie is now Lazy Katie. Of course Kate’s fans will cry foul claiming that a difficult pregnancy left the Duchess of Cambridge unable to perform at her best. Guess what, we are lucky if Kate has even one official engagement per week now, almost 6 months after giving birth to Prince George. Prince William at least has the good excuse that he was on active duty in the RAF for much of the year.
The ranking is taking into account all official appointments between January and December 2013 inclusive. Sure we are left to argue if every appointment really takes up a whole day. But let’s not forget: every public engagement calls for a lot of preparation and meetings that are not mentioned in their official calendars.
And who would have thought?
In first place, ranked even higher than his own busy-bee mother Queen Elizabeth (87 years old) is Prince Charles. He made public appearances on 189 days this year, followed by his mother with only 8 days less. Even Kate’s arch rival, Camilla Parker Bowles, worked more.
Maybe he wouldn’t make such a bad king after all! At least he’d be active – of course in his case sometimes people think that less is more.
Ranking third is Sweden’s (and thus my monarch) King Carl Gustaf (67). He clocked up 168 days, not least owed to his tour of Sweden for his 40th throne jubilee.
Coming in 4th we don’t find his daughter crown princess Victoria as one could almost have expected, but his wife, Queen Silvia (70) with 134 days.
Another busy bee is the consort of Queen Elizabeth, HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Despite his advanced age of 92 years and several medical problems this year he could be seen out and about representing his country on 120 days.
The Dane’s very own Crown Prince Frederik (45) didn’t look particularly great in the statistics. He could only be seen on 90 days plus an additional 34 days of engagements with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which, according to Ekstra Bladet is considered his own private amusement, leaving him among the lazier European Royals. His brother Joachim represented his country only on 35 days. Ouch!
Sweden’s Princess Madeleine (31) came in last in the ranking with only 22 days. The only royal working even less is Maertha Louise of Norway (42). But after her wedding in 2002 she renounced all appanages as well as her royal title, so she doesn’t need an excuse.
The royal courts of Denmark and Sweden stepped up in defense of their respective Royals pointing out that internal meetings and private audiences had not been taken into account by “Ekstra Bladet”. Something we’ll probably have to agree with. Since nowadays the monarchies don’t have much more than representative purpose they are subject to scrutiny and have to justify their “salaries” and more than ever are working to represent their countries in travels abroad to boost tourism, economy and reputation. More or less successful.
1. Prince Charles,189 days
2. Queen Elizabeth II, 181 days
3. King Carl Gustav of Sweden, 168 days
4. Queen Silvia of Sweden, 134 days
5. King Harald of Norway, 124 days
5. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 124 days
5. QueenMargarete II of Denmark, 124 days
6.Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 120 days
7. Marie and Frederik of Denmark, 90 days
8. Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, 89 days
9. Prince Hendrik and Queen Sonia of Denmark, 63 days
10 Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, 53 days
11 Princess Mette Marit of Norway, 51 days
12 Prince William, 46 days
13. Kate Middleton,35 days
13. Prince Joachim of Denmark, 35 days
14. Princess Marie of Denmark, 30 days
15. Princess Madeleine of Sweden, 22 days
One Country and two very popular royals are missing in “Ekstra Bladet”s list though – King Willem-Alexander and beautiful Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. With 72 days for the new Queen and 68 days for the King in the mid-table since their enthronement last April.
Of course we will keep track of the list this year and give you an updated version by the beginning of next year.
So what do you think, do Europeans get their money’s worth?
Photo Credit: FameFlynet