Prince Harry claimed there was competition among royals to have the highest number of official engagements (Picture: Getty)
The Duke of Sussex has claimed some members of the royal family were ‘obsessed’ with having the highest number of official engagements each year, which caused friction within the palace.
Writing in his autobiography Spare, Prince Harry said royals ‘feverishly’ competed with each other to notch up the most public duties in the Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements.
Although Harry did not name any names, he claimed the list was ‘rigged’ as it was self-reported, meaning some artificially boosted their numbers to appear more hard-working.
‘Certain members had become obsessed, feverishly striving to have the highest number of official engagements in the Circular each year, no matter what,’ Harry wrote during Christmas 2013.
He said some members included public interactions that were just blips – the kinds of things ‘Willy and I’ would not include.
Moreover, he claimed the daily list was built upon shaky data as both the Queen and his father would allocate how much time the two Princes could work.
Harry said it was ‘grossly unfair’ to be ‘publicly flogged for how much Pa’ permitted us to do.
Princess Anne frequently tops the list for highest number of official engagements (Picture: Getty)
The contents of the list were never openly discussed in the royal household, but Harry said it was a constant source of tension within the family.
Princess Anne is often labelled as the hardest working royal due to having the most official engagements each year, closely followed by Charles.
In 2022, the Princess Royal topped the list of engagements for a fifth time, attending 214 public functions throughout the course of the year.
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She also claimed the title of busiest royal In 2021 after attending 387 engagements, in addition to taking the top spot in 2018, 2016 and 2015 as well.
Charles came in second place after attending 181 royal outings, followed by his brother Prince Edward, who attended 143 events.
Princess Sophie, Countess of Wessex, attended 138 functions throughout 2022 and Prince William rounded out the top five with 126 royal engagements.
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Prince Harry said royals ‘feverishly’ competed with each other to notch up the most public duties.
