Campaigners have criticised the latest suggestion that the royals are working hard, after the Telegraph reported the number of engagements they had carried out this year.

Although spun as showing a hard-working family, the numbers suggest the royals do the equivalent of no more than two months of full-time work each year.

William has carried out just 172 engagements, which amounts to less than one month full-time equivalent work. Kate did even less, with just 123 engagements. Engagements last an average of one hour, although many are much shorter.

The campaign group Republic points out that the country effectively pays Prince William over £127,000 an hour. The Duchy of Cornwall, which is a public asset owned by the Crown, will pay William an income of more than £22million a year.

Charles now receives a similar income from the Duchy of Lancaster, also a state asset. That means he is costing the country almost £52,000 an hour.

Between the so-called working royals, the schedule adds up to just over six months of full-time work. What they do is not work in the normal sense of the word, and a substantial number of engagements are near or at their main residences.

Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, called the recent figures a disgrace:

"William likes to claim he works hard, adding one issue after another to his list of missions. First he'll tackle Middle East peace, then the environment and now homelessness. The truth is he barely works at all."

"It takes a deep sense of entitlement and a complete lack of serious scrutiny for William, Kate and the others to rake in multi-million pound fortunes, to enjoy the status and privileges of their positions while doing so little."

"Anne is trumpted as the most hard working of them all, yet she only managed the equivalent of two months of work in 2023."

"This is one of many reasons to ditch the monarchy, so we can have an accountable, serious and hard working head of state who is on a decent salary and not being lavished with an opulent lifestyle at the expense of the taxpayer."

Table of royal engagements are hours, days, weeks and months:

The Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster

The royals claim the two duchies are private estates, yet they are the property of the Crown and originate from the same place as the land held by the Crown Estate. The historic record is quite clear that these estates are only in the hands of Charles and William because parliament allows that arrangement to continue.