Thread by @RepublicStaff

Prince William, the Lazy Prince. 🧵

The royals and their fans like to claim the royal family is busy. To help bolster this image they talk about how many engagements they do each year.

Before getting into what they mean by engagements, and why it doesn't add up to much, it's worth noting that this is an odd way to justify someone's position.

They never talk about what they've achieved, just what they've turned up to. They never talk about work actually done, just the work of those who watch them turn up.

Sometimes, when we point out that their engagements don't add up to much, their fans will tell us there's a lot more going on away from the cameras. But that's not true. As you'll see, they try to pad out the engagements list with phone calls and brief Zoom meetings.

If a phone call makes it into the official list of royal engagements, what could they be leaving out that's so important or which adds up to real work?

All engagements are listed on the Court Circular, which you can find here: royal.uk/court-circular

We have had a look at Prince William's engagements for the first half of 2022. They also pad out the list with things that are not being done for the country, such as meetings of the Duchy of Cornwall executive, or meetings with trustees of 'their' charities.

Those engagements, which are private and not being done for the public, we have left out (there aren't that many, but you can check the list if you want to confirm how we've come to the following conclusions).

JANUARY 2022: William did nothing until January 12th, when he handed out honours, which would take between 1-3 hours. This was at Windsor Castle. Six days later he had a phone call and a Zoom call in the same day. There was a brief trip to a museum in London the following day.

The rest of the month consisted of a day trip to Clitheroe in Lancashire, another honours ceremony, one Zoom call and a trip to the BAFTA HQ. William had engagements on just six days that month, most of which added up to little effort or time.

FEBRUARY: There was a brief 36 hour trip to Dubai, during which William also spent time promoting his own pet project, the EarthShot prize, despite the trip being paid for by the British government.

Other than that trip, February was pretty quiet. He briefly met Ben Wallace, handed out more honours, visited MI6 and watched the rugby (listed as an official engagement, because how else do they make him look busy?) Just five days in the month in which he did anything.

MARCH: Another hectic schedule for William. A day trip to Wales on the 1st, a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London a week later, and a couple of other meetings. Then he went on a trip around the Caribbean, which we all know was a PR disaster for the royals.

A note on some of the engagements. Clarence House wrote to us many years ago saying that most of them typically take an hour. However, when it says a royal "received" someone, this is usually less than half an hour.

APRIL: After the disaster-tour of the Caribbean, William did nothing at all for almost four weeks. Later that month he visited the Disaster Emergency Committee, attended a meeting of a charity of which he is patron, held a Zoom call, went to church and went to a Gala.

MAY: Prince William almost looks busy during May. However, most of these engagements add up to very little, and they include a trip to the cinema and going to watch the football. At no point does he come close to doing a day's work or a full week.

JUNE: William had the Jubilee events to attend, but after that he falls back into a familiar pattern. A whole week of nothing except an honours ceremony, then a handful of engagements spread over six days, with a five day break in the middle.

All these events are listed in an effort to suggest the royals are busy, that they are doing something that justifies their status, position and cost. Yet none of this pitiful list of duties involves any real work of any kind.

Royalists will say that the royals would be doing a lot of work to prepare for each engagement, but that doesn't add up. If they include phone calls and private meetings why not other meetings and calls that show them doing that preparation?

The dictionary defines work as "activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result." Normally, in terms of paid, professional work, this comes with obligations, responsibilities, deadlines, and some link between all those things and salary.

There is also accountability, the possibility of being sacked or made redundant, or simply being challenged if you get something wrong. For most of us this all happens alongside numerous other obligations, such as paying rent or mortgage, getting the kids to school and so on.

Hard work is something most of us are used to, whether in the public, private or charity sector. Teachers, nurses and police work hard. Call centre staff work hard, as do builders, fundraisers, electricians, admin staff, shop staff, architects and carers. The royals do not.

Their claim to work hard is a scam, and it should be offensive to those who do put in long hours for a tiny fraction of the multi-million pound funding we give the royal family. One of our Twitter followers put it succinctly, when they said the royals don't work, they attend.

Yet they rarely even attend. For most days of most weeks of most months of the year, the royals pursue their own interests and pastimes. The royals do not work, the monarchy does not work. It's time for honesty about who they are and what they do. It's time to #AbolishTheMonarchy