Prince Charles is set to take on even more royal duties in 2018.
The 69-year-old royal was involved in a whopping 546 royal engagements throughout 2017, the most of any royal, and the new year could see him take on even more as his mother, Queen Elizabeth, is to start scaling back her state duties.
Prince Charles is the heir to the throne and will become King when his 91-year-old mother passes away, and has therefore been the first to step up to take over royal duties from the current monarch.
However, because of his increased royal workload, Charles has been forced to reduce his charity work, and has forced the prince to "review" his charities in the run-up to his milestone 70th birthday later this year.
A Clarence House spokesperson said: "The approach of the Prince’s 70th birthday provided a sensible opportunity to review his charities to ensure that they continue to deliver the maximum benefit for those people they were set up to help.
"The review was also designed to ensure the Prince’s involvement was at the right level and had the right focus.
"This will ensure that the charities become sustainable with less necessity for the engagement of HRH on a day-to-day basis, and will contribute in building a lasting legacy of his philanthropic work."
Queen Elizabeth’s decision to take part in less royal duties comes after her 96-year-old husband Prince Philip retired from all solo engagements in August last year.
A statement released at the time read: "His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision.
"Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen. Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements.
"Although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."
Prince Charles to tackle more royal duties
