Republic, the anti-monarchy group in the UK, is having a hell of a week. Republic’s chief executive Graham Smith has been all over the Prince Andrew stories, making some excellent points about how the Windsors are treating Andrew like a family problem to be buried. As opposed to treating Andrew like a rapist criminal who should be investigated by British and American authorities. Well, Republic is also making another big move. They’re calling for a full disclosure of the Windsors’ bare-bones work schedules. Republic wants a full accounting of how few events the “working royals” actually do, especially the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Campaigners have called for a full disclosure of “just how little the royals do” following media coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to Northern Ireland. Despite media outlets reporting his visit to Northern Ireland this week, anti-monarchy group Republic has shared records showing Prince William has a “work-shy” schedule. Data taken from the court circular – the official record of past royal engagements – shows William only has only had engagements on 13 days in the space of two and a half months between August 1 and October 15 and several of these are described as “brief”. Republic says it suggests he engaged in “the full-time equivalent of three to four days of engagements” during the period.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said the royal family give a “false impression” of being busy and has called for more honesty.
“The palace likes to paint a picture of busy royals supporting good causes. The reality is a workshy family who occasional patronise charities – usually a short drive from Windsor – to give an entirely false impression. William and Kate are particularly lazy, putting in just a few weeks full-time equivalent of engagements, while the public pay William a private income of more than £23 million a year. We need full and honest disclosure about just how little the royals do and negligible impact they have on public life.”
August was completely blank in William’s calendar before a “brief visit” to the Natural History Museum in London appears on September 4. He then went to a rugby match on September 6 before visiting Ascot and going to a couple of Homewards engagements – a programme he launched to tackle homelessness – the following week. The only other engagements he had in September were brief visits to Cardiff and Southport, private meetings, a charity dinner, investiture, and a video call with organisation Earthshot.
An investiture ceremony is a formal event where someone receives an official title, rank, or award. He has only had five days in October so far with engagements scheduled so far including a brief meeting with the Estonian president and a charity launch event. During their first visit to Northern Ireland for three years, William and Kate met recently-qualified firefighters and visited farms.
A 27-page report from Republic last year laid out how the royal household now costs the taxpayer £500m a year. The estimated price tag of £510m included hundreds of millions of pounds not accounted for by the Sovereign Grant – a payment that is made annually to the monarch to help fund their official duties. Republic said the bill for the royals included lost income from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, as well as an estimated £150m security bill, costs to struggling local councils and lost revenue from state buildings used exclusively by the royals. It was confirmed in July that soaring profits from the Crown Estate to £1.1 billion mean the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant will increase from £86.3m in 2024/2025 to £132m in 2025/2026.
I didn’t realize that this week was Will & Kate’s first time in Northern Ireland in three years!! I knew it had been a while for Kate, but I thought William had traveled there more recently. Guess not. That’s crazy. “Despite media outlets reporting his visit to Northern Ireland this week…” That was just one day. The National is like “but we saw him working this week!” Because I keep track of these things for this job, William and Kate had one day of real work in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, where they jammed in several events over the course of several hours (Kate even had a costume change). On Wednesday, Will and Kate did a “greeting” with Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and his wife. William and Hussein then did a second event at an RAF base while Kate… went home and sulked, apparently. I guess my point is that yes, William and Kate are extremely lazy. William actually works more than Kate, but people don’t realize it because William’s solo events get so little attention. Even for William and Kate’s regular, decades-long laziness, they’ve been exceptionally lazy this year. They skipped the BAFTAs because they went on vacation. They had a long summer holiday. They’ve gone on at least three ski holidays this year. The only reason why we saw them at all in September is because Prince Harry visited the UK. “Competing with the Sussexes” explains more than half of their events this year.
EXCLUSIVE: Campaigners have called for a full disclosure of ‘just how little the royals do’ following media coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to Northern Ireland
Data shows William only has only had engagements on 13 days in the space of two and a half months pic.twitter.com/AbdUahRkCn
— The National (@ScotNational) October 15, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.
