Prince William and Princess Kate will be encouraged to carry out a greater number of royal engagements next year, according to a source, with the aim of lightening the load on more senior working royals.

King Charles is said to be keen to take advantage of a growing interest in the Royal Family amongst younger people, and believes the Prince and Princess of Wales are key to ensuring the future of the monarchy.

A source told OK! magazine: “The King is very aware of the role the younger members of the Royal Family play in spreading the word to a wider and younger audience.

“Media and audience tests demonstrate the success of William and Kate’s engagement with the younger generation through social media and public appearances. So it’s important that they continue this success into 2024 and beyond.”

Data from the Court Circular shows the number of engagements undertaken by each member of the Firm since 1997, with both Kate’s and William’s numbers down on last year.

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So far in 2023, William has conducted 95 engagements in comparison with 128 in 2022, while Kate is currently on 75 engagements following last year’s 93.

The source added: “The aim is for both William and Kate to build on their popularity as the years go on and take on more engagements. Not less.

“It won’t be a case of burning them out but certainly increasing their profiles and building on youth initiatives that will hold value for the family as a whole as it grows.”

The working royals carry out thousands of engagements each year, with the late Queen Elizabeth II completing over 21,000 in her lifetime.

The Court Circular also reveals that the King is undertaking far fewer engagements than his mother did when she was his age. As at the age of 74 he has conducted 162 this year, while back in 2000 when she was 74 the late Queen managed 335.

The source explained: “The King is conducting nowhere near the number of engagements the Queen fulfilled.

“Even at the age of 93 in 2019, she undertook 295 engagements. The move to increase the younger family members’ engagements is an attempt at bridging that gap.”

The hardest-working royal remains Princess Anne, who has so far this year undertaken 172 engagements and racked up an impressive 213 in 2022.

According to the source, she will start to wind down her commitments year-on-year as she gets older, with the responsibility falling to the younger royals to step up to the mark.

The King has made no secret of his plans to slim down the monarchy, and with only four working royals under the age of 70, it is likely they will be called on to carry out more visits in the future.