AT THE age of 80 the Queen has regained her position as the hardest working member of the Royal Family, leaving most of the younger generations far behind.

As she enjoys her first cruise round the Scottish Isles since the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997, a survey by The Times shows how richly she has earned the break.

Celebrations to mark her 80th birthday have helped the monarch to overtake her daughter, the Princess Royal, at the top of the league of official functions so far this year.

The Queen shares top billing with the Prince of Wales, who on Wednesday with the Duchess of Cornwall joined other members of the Royal Family on board the cruiser Hebridean Princess at the Kyle of Lochalsh on the West Coast of Scotland. Both carried out 178 engagements, with the 85-year-old Duke of Edinburgh performing 140, a little way behind Princess Anne.

But the Princess confirmed her reputation for hard work by attending public duties on the most days: more than 120 compared with 95 for the Queen and 98 for Prince Philip.

With five months of the year to go, the Princess Royal, 55, who is paid £228,000 from the Civil List, has time to regain the top spot from her mother. The Duchess of Cornwall was listed in the Court Circular as attending official functions on 55 days, the lowest of the senior royals.

The Duchess, 58, has undertaken 94 engagements amid press reports of rows with Prince Charles over her unwillingness to take on more official duties. The former Camilla Parker Bowles had her busiest month in March on a trip to Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia.

The Duke of York, who has become a trade ambassador for British industry abroad, completed 135 engagements, as far afield as Dubai and Mongolia. He receives £249,000 from the Civil List.

The Earl of Wessex, 42, who since the collapse of his loss-making film company Ardent Productions in 2003 has become a full-time working Royal, carried out 115 engagements, with 25 of them at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The Earl and his wife, Sophie, 41, who live in 57-room Bagshot Park in Surrey — the largest royal residence apart from the Queen’s homes — are paid by the Queen.

The 70-year-old Duke of Kent carried out 60 engagements, many associated with his role as President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Duke and Duchess, who has virtually retired from public life, receive £236,000 from the Civil List.

The Duke of Gloucester, 61, the Queen’s cousin, has carried out 36 engagements this year and his wife 45. They receive £175,000 from the Civil List.

The Countess of Wessex, whose public relations company is being wound up with undisclosed debts after a series of county court judgments, performed 55 engagements, Princess Alexandra, 69, a cousin of the Queen, carried out 30 engagements. The Princess, whose husband Sir Angus Ogilvy died in December 2004, receives £225,000 from the Civil List.

The Queen spent £125,000 chartering the Hebridean Princess, described as a floating Scottish country house, to re-create the family’s holidays through the Western Isles on Britannia.

The Queen repays all the £1.6 million Civil List payments from her own private funds, with the exception of the Duke of Edinburgh’s £359,000.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are financed by the Duchy of Cornwall.

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK FOR DUCHESS

THE Duchess of Cornwall was hard at work in Humberside this week, though her efforts were not universally appreciated when only six people turned out to catch a glimpse of the woman who may be their next Queen.

“It’s that Camilla woman who’s coming. Who cares. People round here don’t like her,” said Katie Fletcher, a waitress at a café near to a Hull hospital where the Duchess was to open a clinic for sufferers of osteoporosis. “She had an affair with Prince Charles behind Diana’s back.” Would she cross the road to see the Duchess? “I’ve got customers,” Miss Fletcher replied.

Linda Mitchell, a working mother, had travelled 60 miles to see the Duchess. “I think she’s lovely,” Mrs Mitchell said. “The press should give her a chance. Diana was insane.”

The Duchess is skilled at making small talk with dignitaries on these visits. But later at Age Concern she met Jean Bishop, 83. “She was so down to earth that I forgot to curtsey and call her ‘Ma’am’,” she said.

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