King Charles has carried out less than seven weeks of full-time work in the last year, analysis from campaign group Republic has revealed.
The anti-monarchy group says that, since the Queen’s funeral last September, the King has attended an estimated 257 engagements, which they calculate to take around an hour each but could actually be much less.
The number of engagements officially recorded by the Royal Family is often inflated by counting single events as multiple engagements.
Republic stated that just 40 out of the total 257 engagements were traditional, public visits where Charles might meet people in the street.
More than 60 engagements were the King ‘receiving’ people, the majority of whom were military officers, diplomats, bishops and senior politicians rather than members of the public. Republic said that such engagements typically last only 20 minutes.
With some exceptions, most engagements were within a short drive or helicopter flight from whichever residence Charles was staying in at the time.
Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, said: “It’s been reported that Charles worked on 161 days over the past year, yet the work he does amounts to very little. Of course, what he does do is rarely work as most people would understand it.
“It’s rare Charles will do a five-day week, quite often weeks go by where he has engagements on just one or two days. There are long stretches of down-time.”
He continued: “Charles, like all the royals, does very little. They’ll carry out the minimum required to look useful and important, they’ll arrive for brief visits to small crowds of fans.
“But for most days of most weeks of the year theirs is a life of leisure.”
Republic stated that since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, more than £345 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the monarchy, as well as an additional £250 millio on the coronation of King Charles.
Those behind the campaign also estimated that £2 billion had been lost from the economy as a result of extra bank holidays, and £200 million in unpaid inheritance tax.
Smith continued: “That’s a huge bill to pay for a part-time King who doesn’t work but attends, who has meetings but no real responsibilities.”
Related: Women arrested at Sarah Everard vigil receive payouts from Met police
