U.K. Royal Family Gets Financial Boost From Offshore Wind and…see more

U.K. Royal Family Gets Financial Boost From Offshore Wind and Palaces
Profits at the Crown Estate doubled thanks to offshore wind deals, while visitors to royal palaces are almost back to prepandemic levels.

total in the year before the pandemic, when Queen Elizabeth II and her family managed 3,200 official engagements.

The ranks of royals able to fulfill official duties have thinned in recent years, following the decision of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to step back from their roles in 2020, and the deaths of Prince Philip and the Queen.

King Charles’s cancer diagnosis earlier this year, and that of Catherine, Princess of Wales, meant that two of the family’s best-known figures temporarily stepped back from public appearances, although the king continued to undertake his constitutional duties.

After almost three months away from the spotlight, Charles returned to public duties in April, while Catherine appeared in public for the first time last month, taking part in a ceremonial parade in London.

But their health issues will continue to affect the number of public appearances, the report said. “Following the announcement about the health of his majesty and the princess of Wales, there will be fewer public engagements in total during the period of treatment and recovery,” it said.

The king undertook 464 official engagements in the year to April, ranging from receptions for foreign dignitaries to a visit to the set of the Eurovision song contest in Liverpool.

Among the plethora of detail contained in the report was the number of messages the king and the princess received by mail wishing them well following their health announcements: 27,620.

Buckingham Palace is also making progress on its goals to recruit a more diverse work force. The palace said 11.4 percent of its employees were from ethnic minorities, though that was still short of its objective of 14 percent by 2025. The mean gender pay gap has decreased from 4.2 percent to 2.2 percent, the document said.