Here are some photos of King Charles during his Christmas speech – which he filmed at Westminster Abbey – and some photos of Charles walking to church on Christmas morning at Sandringham. Charles once again got a pretty big royal gathering. Despite reporting to the contrary, his nieces Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice were in Sandringham with their husbands. Princess Anne, Tim Laurence, the Edinburghs, the Tindalls and many more were there. Charles purposefully invites as many of his nieces and nephews as possible so no one will point out his share of the blame for his estrangement from his younger son, daughter-in-law and two ginger grandkids.
Charles’s Christmas speech wasn’t focused on his health at all – that’s why he wisely gave a health update a few weeks ago during Stand Up To Cancer, so he wouldn’t have to give that update in his Xmas speech. Charles focused on compassion and reconciliation, and the NY Times noted that the message was likely politically-tinged, given Donald Trump’s bullsh-t with European leaders. He also spoke about meeting the new pope (Pope Bob, the American).
The biggest royal news of the week was that Charles finally dethroned his sister Anne as the hardest-working royal this year. Charles conducted 535 engagements throughout 2025, all while he was still being treated for cancer on a weekly basis (and not technically working five days a week). The rest of the list: 2) Princess Anne had 478 engagements, 3) Prince Edward with 313 engagements, 4) Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, with 235 engagements, 5) Queen Camilla with 228, 6) Duke of Gloucester with 212, 7) Prince William at 202, 8) Duchess of Gloucester at 77, 9) Duke of Kent at 77, and in last place, there was the Princess of Wales with only 68 engagements. Kate is being outworked by the 90-year-old Duke of Kent!! That’s ridiculous.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- King Charles III during the recording of his Christmas message in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 11 Dec 2025 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III during the recording of his Christmas message in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 11 Dec 2025 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
It was cringe to see the presents given to them by people lined up to see them. especially to Wales kids. Charlotte posed for sefie photo.Charles made sure a lot of family attended. Camilla should have left that big red coat home and worn something else. I think Edo was happy to attend the walk.
Yeah it didn’t look right. I think the Palace should put out a statement asking people not to bring gifts and to make a donation to specific charities instead. People sacrificing their comfort for them on Christmas Day doesn’t sit right with me.
i agree, i find the gift giving very strange. The king is a billionaire. William has an unearned income around 20 million a year, maybe more. they dont need gifts from the public like this.
Or they could just as easily donate their gifts to an orphanage or another charity and be praised to the skies for it…but we never heard anything similar, have we?I don’t remember who, but I read that a royal woman donated the flowers she received. (Was it Meghan?, I don’t know)… anyway, the children seem to be happy about it..way to learn how to be normal by receiving gifts by strangers..
68 engagements is absolutely pathetic. I dislike Charles as a father but one can’t deny that he does his job. Doing his job while actually looking like death I might add. Kate should be ashamed of herself.
Why Carole after seemingly teaching Kate how to hustle a future king didnt think it wise to also teach her kids some work ethic and to have a plan B. Imagine what would Kate be doing if Willy didnt fall for it,she would have needed a back up plan No?
Unfortunately I don’t think Bill is self-aware enough to be embarrassed about this. Either that or he flat-out just doesn’t care. Could go either way with him! Either way, what a winner, letting his elderly, cancer-stricken father outwork him by orders of magnitude.
wasn’t kate threatened by duchess meghan’s work ethic and that (along with rampant racism) is why she drove her from the country and the family? guess we all see why someone actually doing the job is so scary for this lazy POS and 68 pathetic engagements
To be fair, he’s the actual king, so he should be doing the most work unless he’s actually too ill (and apparently he is not— I have a family member on regular meds for leukemia and he functions completely normally despite qualifying for disability!) And if I was the rich, middle aged (over giving a f***) wife of a future king, I’d probably just stay home too— all that hair and makeup and wardrobe (and criticism) to go cut ribbons and shake hands would not be for me! Obviously Meghan has a personality more suited to the non-stop PR tour that is the Royal Family (and they should have cherished her) and I blame Kate for being racist, but not for not working harder.
Kate gets away with these appalling numbers ***EVERY*** year. It is infuriating that she never gets dragged publically about it.
And her pathetic number of engagements counts all sorts of nonsense — “private” meetings (or phone calls, maybe even texts, ffs) with staff members, photo shoots, everything. She hasn’t actually done 68 worthwhile engagements. Her asinine videos count, too. What a joke. I have no idea how she’s not embarrassed beyond belief.
I would argue that very few of ANY of the royal engagements actually help any people or causes — it’s all just publicity for the institution, so they can count however they want.
She should be ashamed of herself. She by her own admission has been cancer free the entirety of this year. All of her children are in school most of the day, and no one is expecting her to do international travel. And she was out worked by two people in their ’80s, and by three people in their 70s.
I don’t understand how people are okay to see her go on skiing vacations, to cheer her suing and winning against publications that post photos of those vacations. To hear stories about her decorating her fifth home, and just nothing. But they have all the smoke in the world for a woman that lives on another continent, wearing expensive jewelry.
I don’t know why the press acts like Kate walks on water for having “cancer” but act like Charles is a dead man walking. I don’t even know how William can justify such low numbers. I can’t get over how there’s basically no coverage of the Wales’ low numbers compared with people twice their age and health issues.
agree completely. I’m almost embarrassed for her. 68 engagements?? you have to really be trying to avoid work to work that little.
Camilla’s numbers are pretty low too for the consort, but at least those are all actual events. None of the royals besides William and Kate count things like phone calls or meetings with their staff. so when you consider that, Kate’s numbers are even lower.
And you know she pads her engagements with all sorts of nonsense— videos made by other people, romping around on a beach or in the woods, etc. Not exactly “work.” Although she certainly acts like she works herself to the bone.
So his som which is a couple decades younger and not battling cancer has less than half of the numbers of his aging sick father .
What a joke this whole family and institution.
Son
All of the stories about “Brave Saint Kate ‘Battling Cancer’” are so offensive to the people who are *truly* battling it, not someone who had some pre-cancerous cells successfully removed and is well enough to go skiing.
Actual work gets in the way of vacations for the keens. And the school runs. Yet scooter keeps going on about how he will be a great king
Pathetic.
Why are her numbers so low when she really has to do close to NOTHING. Who would hate just showing up making small talk and getting a fancy wardrobe on top of that.Someone should look into why she hates it so much,she does not have any where to report, manage,supervise,delegate,plan..I mean nothing. I doubt she does any administration either. So whats the problem,is it boring,is it beneath her?
I would hate it! I hate small talk and I’d be dreadfully bored doing what the royals do. But I also wouldn’t touch a royal with a 39 1/2 foot pole.
Spoken like an extrovert! Some of us introverts would definitely avoid being trotted out in public more than once a week, even if our other activities only include working out and school runs!
So the man with cancer out did them all with events and the one with fake cancer did the least events? Proof of lazy in writing now too.
I’m sure Charles was very pleased to have done the most engagements. Harry did say that some in the family are very competitive when it comes to the court circular. As for Kate, I’ll expect the press to start demanding that she does more next year. She’s being outworked by people in 80s and 90s.
@Amy Bee clearly Kate and Will compete to do the least not the most. They issued a patronising tweet to Princess Anne when she showed up badly bruised after a serious head injury. It was breathtaking crass and shameless given how often both are unbusy and unbothered .
Yeah, there’s no way that Sophie has 238 and William 202. Not possible. I understand that they count dumb stuff, like an hour long phone call. But, clearly not in the same manner. Because there’s no way that Sophie’s multiple day overseas engagements wouldn’t count for like 10 engagements a day if they counted it the same way they must for William. That’s so crazy to me. Sophie has had a BIG year of intense, overseas trips and somehow William almost matched her? Nah
Imagine how much beefing up they do to the Keens numbers and they still get that in the end. I think the other working royals are only counted for physical appearances and the Keens get phones and opening emails padded to their numbers.Shameful!
They all clearly do that not just the Wales. Phone calls, texts, and letter writing (typed with your signature) is counted regularly.
Exactly! Well, padding the Keens numbers or artificially lowering others, not sure. For Sophie, I guess work on behalf of the Foreign Office is counted differently than “Royal” engagements? It is true that her trips were not on behalf of the King, but the government. Still though, it’s so blatantly rigged to try to suggest William did practically the same as her, people have eyes!
@Dani no, other royals do not pad their numbers the way the Wales do. If Charles lists a meeting with staff, its because there are representatives there from other charities or something. I dont even think he counts his weekly meetings with the PM. As you scroll though the CC its obvious how much W&K pad their events.
A lot of times these year end tallies dont include foreign trips, those are calculated separately. So some articles will say something like “Sophie completed 250 engagements in the UK and another 50 engagements abroad.”
Well, William *is* gearing up to be the first “work from home monarch!” 🙄
Yes Kate’s numbers are abysmal but so are Wills the heir is only 7th and we know for him stuff like meetings with staff count to!
Meanwhile they have 6 holidays a year.
William probably counts every pint he drinks on his engagements as separate engagements. And texts with his “personal advisor” Jason.
So I know there’s an expectation that these numbers are going to shame the Wales and the press will pressure them to do more next year. But idk man. They are without shame. They do not care. They are not ever going to do much more than this. They’re gonna grab 150 acres of public park land, close a kids nature center, and do the barest minimum of engagements. Are they gonna get some criticism? Sure but not near enough to shame them into doing more. Please. This is how they roll and this is how they’re allowed to roll. All they got do is get the kids to walk cutely to church and all is forgotten. Maybe the wheels will fall off once William is in charge, but idk, they get away with it bc they’re allowed to.
@Jais, it’s incredible, but yeah, W&K have proved over and over again that they do not experience shame. Unreal
So what’s the excuse for a woman who is, by her admission, no longer sick and has 3 kids in school full time? Because 68 engagements is a joke. I honestly don’t think she even did that many public events. I think it’s quite a few “meetings” where she calls in for 5 minutes.
What a weird little man he is. I wish peace in his heart and maybe a few major life changes before he passes on the crown — like reconciling with his other grandchildren, or maybe regretting what he did to his ex-wife and Harry. But aside from that, this guy is old, let him REST for goodness’ sake.
And he owes an apology to meghan
I don’t wish any of them ill. And, I’m getting on in years and am intensely curious about what will actually go on once Willy takes over! So…
I’m very curious! The British “royals” have been my reality show for quite a while now. If they didn’t constantly fight each other in the press/tabloids, I might have lost interest by now! He’s not my king!
To quote Monty Python, “King? I didn’t vote for you!” Hahaha.
Well, as much as we all criticise Kate for her abysmal working numbers (many of which were state dinners, accompanying and hanging out with dignitaries from other countries etc), I found William’s numbers even worse. I mean, he’s a man in his prime (allegedly), the heir to the throne and his father and aunts outwork him. Not to mention that many of his engagements are sports or drinking related. But I guess, it’s OK, because ,hey, he brought George to the charity to prepare meals and Charlotte played piano with her mother! So, let’s just sit out in the cold to see them and give them presents because they grace us with their presence….it’s no wonder that they can get away with grabbing public land and renovations to their 4th forever home. Why are people in Britain so gullible ?
@First Comment I am more concerned about Will because he will be King and Kate will be his consort. He was born to the role, she wasn’t. Okay they both should be better prepared but he has had his entire life to prepare. Also she had an operation and follow on treatment in 2024. She looks far too thin and has good and bad days which could mean anything but translates into them handling her with kid gloves. Will has no similar justification for a phased return to work in 2025. His father who is elderly and on a strong weekly chemo treatment has worked more than twice as hard as him. The Fail fanclub excuse him on the grounds that he’s being a good father and when he’s King, he won’t have a minute to himself so he’s wise to pace himself now!
Kate never really wanted to do much work. From the get go. She did manage to go on the ski trips which involves lots of strenuous activity. Diana was expected to work from the get go, she was just out of her teens, and she was pregnant with William on her first walkabout (in Wales) with Charles). She felt ill but managed to meet and greet people and they took to her. Kate and William waited about two years to conceive their first child. Diana liked to work and be active. Kate doesn’t. Her mother Carole certainly would have had a clue that Keen would have to do work and go on appearances with her husband. Scooter DID slack off, unlike his father. He could have been stepping up his work when he was in his twenties, but he was idling away going to clubs and vacations. Keen enabled him since she was and is lazy too.