Queen Elizabeth II shames younger royals for still carrying a number of engagements in 2015, Princess Anne emerges as the hardest working royal

Queen Elizabeth II shows no sign of stopping after carrying out over 300 engagements in 2015. 

The Queen remains tireless in carrying out official engagements. In fact the Queen has put the younger generation of the Royal family to shame by carrying out more engagements than the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry combined during the past year.

Peter Henn and John Chapman of Daily Express note that the Queen, who will turn 90 in April showed no signs of slowing down as she carried out more than 340 official engagements. The Duke of Edinburgh, meanwhile, who will turn 95 this year, managed 217 engagements at home and 33 abroad.

But it was Princess Anne who carried out a whopping 544 engagements in 2015. That’s more than 10 a week, topping her 2014 engagements which saw her participate in 528 activities and knocking elder bro Prince Charles as the busiest royal. The heir to the throne, though carried out still an impressive 527 engagements last year.

Richard Fitzwilliams, the royal commentator, praised the princess for her dedication to her duty.

Princess Anne carried out the most number of royal engagements in 2015. 

"The figures show her integrity and devotion to duty. Her reign defies anything ever seen before. She makes herself very visible because of the extraordinary affection people have for her,” Fitzwilliams said.

This year saw Queen Elizabeth II surpassed the record held by her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning British sovereign. Now reigning for almost 64 years, she remains as active as ever.

In another memorable year for the Queen, she made overseas visits to Malta for a Commonwealth summit and to Germany, where she went to the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The Duchess of Cambridge's engagements were hampered after giving birth to Princess Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry managed only 198 engagements between them in the UK and 94 abroad.

The duchess did not travel overseas because she gave birth to Princess Charlotte in May, while the duke combines his royal duties with his role as a helicopter co-pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, which he started in July.

Prince Harry left the Army in June after 10 years' service, before spending the summer as a volunteer with conservation experts in southern Africa.

Prince Harry is expected to  have more engagements this year after leaving the army in 2015. 

A source close to the young royals said that 2016 will be an even busier for them. The duke and duchess are slated for a tour in India while Prince Harry is scheduled to visit the US. They also have significant roles to play on celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday.

The figures were compiled by Times reader Tim O'Donovan, who does so every year based on engagements announced in the Court Circular - the official record of engagements carried out by royals.

He told the newspaper: "During the year the Queen became the longest-reigning British monarch; the number of engagements carried out by her majesty in her 90th year and by the Duke of Edinburgh, who will be 95 in June, is remarkable.

One senior aide emphasized, however, that while the figures were largely accurate, they did not reflect the amount of behind the scenes preparation undertaken by the Queen and her husband.

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