King Charles has maintained a prominent public profile throughout the fourth year of his reign, driven by an energetic diary of duties.
Over the last 12 months, Charles undertook official duties on 164 separate days. While this is a slight drop from 176 days the year before, it marks an increase on both his first year on the throne (161) and his second (133).
Alongside extensive nationwide travel, the King’s itinerary featured an audience with the Pope, two meetings with US President Donald Trump, and the arrival of a new UK prime minister Andy Burnham.
These commitments were fulfilled alongside ongoing cancer treatment, indicating that the 77-year-old monarch plans to maintain his workload.
Other key members of the royal family also increased their public appearances over the same period. Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke of Edinburgh all recorded more working days than in the prior year, highlighting a joint push to expand royal engagements.
open image in galleryThe data was gathered by the Press Association from the Court Circular, which serves as the official published log of royal appointments.
September 8 marks the anniversary of the death in 2022 of Elizabeth II, aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.
It was the moment her son and heir Charles became King, and the date will remain a poignant occasion for the head of state.
The fourth year of Charles’s reign saw him visit places as far apart as the Eden Project in Cornwall, Grimsby Town Football Club in Lincolnshire and Ards Allotments in County Down.
In East Sussex he walked part of the renamed and expanded King Charles III England Coast Path; at Taff’s Well near Cardiff he took the controls of a tram-train; and at Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders he kicked off a game of the traditional street sport of hand ba’.
He even appeared to make a journey in the Doctor Who Tardis, stepping out of the time machine during the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Charles did not undertake quite as many international engagements as in his third year, when he travelled to Australia, Canada, Italy, Poland and Samoa.
The main foreign trip of the King’s fourth year was a state visit to the United States, followed by a tour to Bermuda, in late April and early May 2026, when he delivered a well-received speech to the US Congress that celebrated Anglo-American relations.
It was only the second time in history that a reigning British monarch has addressed Congress, while Charles’s trip to Bermuda was his first royal visit as sovereign to a British Overseas Territory.
open image in galleryWhile in the US, the King was greeted by President Trump – an encounter that came just seven months after the two met at Windsor Castle in September.
Nearer to home, Charles made a two-day state visit to the Vatican in October 2025, during which he met Pope Leo XIV and attended a service in the Sistine Chapel.
The Press Association 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 114 days during the fourth year of her husband’s reign, more than in each of the previous three years (104 in 2022-23, 107 in 2023-24 and 104 in 2024-25).
Camilla accompanied her husband on his overseas trips to the US and the Vatican as well many of his visits in the UK, besides travelling for solo engagements to places including the set of Disney’s TV drama Rivals in Bristol, the Pooh Sticks Bridge in Hartfield in East Sussex, and Spellow Library in Liverpool.
The last 12 months also saw the King greet the fourth prime minister of his reign in as many years, when Andy Burnham took over from Sir Keir Starmer in July.
Liz Truss was prime minister when Charles became King in September 2022, but was succeeded by Rishi Sunak the following month, who in turn gave way to Sir Keir in July 2024.
open image in gallerySuch a rapid turnover in premiers is unprecedented in modern times and last occurred more than 100 years ago, during the reign of Charles’s great-grandfather George V.
The King had 26 formal audiences with his prime minister during the past 12 months, 24 with Sir Keir Starmer and two with Andy Burnham.
This is broadly in line with previous years, which saw 26 audiences in his first year as head of state, 22 in his second and 23 in his third.
In addition, Charles held 12 meetings of the Privy Council.
This is the body of advisers that meets regularly with the monarch to oversee the issue of royal proclamations, charters and other ceremonial matters.
Privy Council 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 and 11 in his third.
Besides public appearances and political meetings, the King has continued to hold many official one-to-one audiences with senior figures from UK charities and businesses, as well as greeting diplomats and leaders from around the world, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in both October 2025 and March 2026, and most recently French President Emmanuel Macron in September.
He has carried out these audiences throughout the past four years, even in the months of March and April 2024 when he was largely out of public view because of his illness.
open image in galleryBuckingham Palace announced in February 2024 that the King had been diagnosed with a form of cancer, since when he has received regular treatment.
Among other senior royals, Press Association analysis shows the Princess Royal has maintained her reputation as the “hardest-working” member of her family, with engagements listed for 183 days in the past 12 months, close to the 190 in the previous year.
Edward is listed as carrying out engagements on 147 days, up from 130; William on 115 days, up from 108; and Kate on 63 days, up from 39.
All data is based on the Court Circular up to and including September 7 2026.