King Charles III's sister, Princess Anne, has revealed her thoughts on his reported desire for a "slimmed down" monarchy on the eve of his coronation. This comes after the exits of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew as working royals in recent years.
Reports of Charles' interest in reducing the number of public-facing working royals has circulated for a number of years. In 2012, he was said to have been the architect behind removing senior royals from the Buckingham Palace Diamond Jubilee balcony appearance. Only Queen Elizabeth II, himself, Queen Camilla (when Duchess of Cornwall), Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry were left.
Anne—who repeatedly tops the list of hardest-working royals—was asked by Canadian news network CBC News what she made of the idea of reducing the number of royals taking on public duties.
"When you hear sometimes people refer to a 'slimmed-down monarchy,' I can't imagine what that might mean for a role like yours. I don't know how many more hours in the day you have to take more things on?" CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault asked.
The princess then gave a small laugh, before replying that those comments may have been made when there was a larger pool of working royals. Before 2019, this would have included Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
"I think that 'slimmed down' was said in a day when there were a few more people to make that seem like a justifiable comment," Anne said. "I mean, it doesn't sound like a good idea from where I'm standing, I have to say. I'm not quite sure what else we can do."
Today, there are 11 members of the British royal family who are classed as "working royals" who undertake official duties on behalf of the crown. Of those 11, seven are over the age of 70.
The 11 are: King Charles, 74; Queen Camilla, 75; William, Prince of Wales, 40; Catherine, Princess of Wales, 41; Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, 59; Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, 58; Princess Anne, 72; Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 78; Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, 76; Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 87; and Princess Alexandra of Kent, 86.
Prince Andrew retired from his public duties in 2019 following growing questions about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There were also allegations of sexual misconduct against himself by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew has maintained a denial of the allegations made against him. In 2022, he settled a lawsuit brought against him by Giuffre and has appeared at royal family events, though has not returned to public life.
In January 2020, it was announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would step down from their working roles within the monarchy. The couple were to pursue financial independence and build a home for their young family in the United States. They were given a year's grace period by Queen Elizabeth to return to their roles should they so choose—this expired in January 2021.
Anne was also asked her thoughts on the relevancy of the monarchy in the rare interview, broadcast on Monday in Canada. Many Commonwealth realms are debating abolishing the institution.
"It's not a conversation that I would necessarily have," Anne said. "I think it's perfectly true that it is a moment when you need to have that discussion. But I would just underline that the monarchy provides, with the constitution, a degree of long-term stability that is actually quite hard to come by any other way."
Reflecting on her brother, in his new role as monarch, the princess added: "You know what you're getting because he's been practising for a bit, and I don't think he'll change... You know, he is committed to his own level of service, and that will remain true."
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
