Charles’s third year as King busiest so far

The King’s third year as monarch has been his busiest and most widely-travelled so far, despite continuing to receive treatment for cancer, analysis suggests.

Charles carried out official engagements on 175 days during the past 12 months, compared with 133 the previous year and 161 in the first year of his reign.

Besides journeying by air, rail and road, this year has seen the King celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary to the Queen, become the first British monarch to address the Italian parliament, and share his personal playlist of favourite songs.

He also clocked up the 1,000th day of his reign since his accession to the throne.

The figures have been compiled by the PA news agency using the Court Circular, which is the official record of the royal family’s activities.

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died peacefully at Balmoral in Scotland on September 8 2022, aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

Her death was the moment her son and heir Charles became King, and the date will remain a poignant period for the head of state.

The past 12 months saw Charles travel the furthest distance from the UK since becoming King.

He flew to the other side of the world in October 2024, firstly to visit Australia, then to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting on the Pacific island of Samoa.

Charles made another international trip in May 2025, spending two days carrying out engagements in Canada including opening the current session of parliament.

Closer to home, the King travelled to Poland on Holocaust Memorial Day – January 27 2025 – to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

It was followed in April 2025 by a four-day visit to Italy, where Charles made history with his speech to the country’s parliament – an event that followed similar historic firsts in 2023, when he became the first British monarch to address the French senate and German Bundestag.

A busy calendar of domestic engagements has taken the King right across the UK in the past 12 months.

He visited places as far apart as Lossiemouth in north Scotland, Banbridge in County Down in Northern Ireland and Deal on the coast of Kent, as well as attending events in major towns and cities including Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Durham, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough.

One engagement took the King out to sea, when he dropped in on the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in the English Channel, ahead of the ship’s deployment to Japan.

PA has classed a day with engagements as one where the monarch is recorded on the Court Circular as undertaking at least one visit, meeting or function in an official capacity.

Days where he carried out other, non-official events, such as attending church in a private capacity, have not been counted.

Using the same criteria, the Court Circular shows the Queen carried out engagements on 103 days during the third year of her husband’s reign.

This is down slightly on the second year (107), when Camilla undertook a number of additional trips on the King’s behalf while he was in the early stages of his cancer treatment, and is also just below the figure for the first year (104).

The Queen accompanied her husband in the past 12 months on his overseas trips to Australia, Samoa, Canada and Italy as well as on many of his visits across the UK, besides travelling for solo engagements to places including Hexham in Northumberland, Swindon in Wiltshire, and Plymouth in Devon to inspect the HMS Astute submarine.

The King had 22 formal audiences with his prime minister during the past year: the same number as in his second year, but four fewer than the 26 in his first year.

The past 12 months are notable for being the first year of Charles’s reign not to include a change of prime minister.

Liz Truss was succeeded by Rishi Sunak on October 25 2022, just 48 days into Charles’s first year as monarch; while Mr Sunak was succeeded by Sir Keir Starmer on July 5 2024, towards the end of Charles’s second year.

The Court Circular also shows the King held 11 meetings of the Privy Council during his third year.

This is the body of advisers that meets regularly with the monarch to oversee the issue of royal proclamations, charters and other ceremonial matters.

Its members are mostly senior politicians past and present, though only a few serving ministers attend each session.

The council met slightly more frequently during Charles’s first year as King – 16 times – perhaps reflecting the increased amount of official business that accompanies the arrival of a new monarch, while there were 13 meetings in his second year.

Besides public appearances and political meetings, the King has continued to pepper his reign with many official one-to-one audiences with senior figures from UK charities and businesses, as well as greeting ambassadors, high commissioners and leaders from around the world, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in June 2025 and French president Emmanuel Macron in July.

He has carried out these audiences throughout the past three years, even in the months of March and April 2024 when he was largely out of public view due to his illness.

Buckingham Palace announced in February 2024 that the King had been diagnosed with a form of cancer, since when he has received regular treatment.

The analysis by PA of the Court Circular also shows that the Princess Royal has maintained her reputation as the “hardest-working” member of her family, with engagements on 189 days in the past year: more than any other senior royal, including her brother the King.

The Duke of Edinburgh is listed as carrying 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.

(All data is based on the Court Circular up to and including September 5 2025.)