Princess Anne turns 75 years old tomorrow, August 15th. It’s really surprising that she’s a Leo, honestly. When I think of Leos, I think of movie stars, presidents and athletes – people who love the spotlight, people who crave attention. Anne has always moved quietly and refused to be glamorous. The one thing Anne did allow was a special “birthday portrait” to be released by Buckingham Palace – a simple photo of Anne and her husband Tim Laurence at the Macrons’ state banquet last month (see above). Anyway, most British outlets are marking Anne’s birthday with special coverage about how she’s very hard-working and popular. The Telegraph’s piece is “Princess Anne at 75: The best queen we’ll never have.” She honestly would have been much more suited to the big job, so much more than her brother Charles. An excerpt from the Telegraph’s coverage:
Half of the population seems to have met her, or had a relative who did. Almost all are quite sure she thoroughly enjoyed their conversation, probably her favourite of that day. At the age of 75, as she celebrates her birthday on August 15, the Princess Royal can be quietly satisfied with her contribution to public life.
“She’s got what I think we all hope for in middle age,” says a source who knows her well. “Enthusiasm for everything, an understanding of how the world works, and still contributing.”
…The past few years have not been easy. The death of her father and then her mother, a serious head injury, which she has said left her “very close” to not being “compos mentis”, her elder brother’s cancer diagnosis and the eyes of the public turning to her to step up – none of it can have failed to make its mark. But the Princess, one of a generation of the Royal family whose unofficial motto has been “Just get on with it,” has carried on.
Her final full day of work before her birthday crammed in visits to a Liverpool stable, a Cheshire oat miller and an animal feed factory. “She does not,” says a friend, “enjoy fuss.”
“She’s very approachable, she doesn’t suffer fools gladly – which in my world is a good thing,” says Lord Sebastian Coe, who came to know the Princess as a fellow Olympian and worked with her closely at the International Olympic Committee and during the London 2012 Games. “She is more often on receive than transmit. When she does say something, it’s always on point and additive: she doesn’t speak for the sake of it.”
Ask a fan at one of her engagements, and they will frequently call her the “best queen we’ll never have” or suggest that she “should be queen”.
“I’m not so sure about that,” says one friend now, thoughtfully. “She is very good at the job she has.”
“She’s got what I think we all hope for in middle age.” 75 years old is NOT “middle age.” She should be retired! Like, I understand that she’s a workhorse and she probably wants to keep busy, but it’s ridiculous that there’s an expectation that she will continue working to this extent, deep into her 70s. Especially after the traumatic brain injury – complete with profound memory loss and a change in personality – last year. They sent her out in public when her face was still bruised! I will never forget that. Anyway, I hope Anne has a nice birthday and she decides to take it down a notch in the coming years.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images. Birthday portrait courtesy of Chris Jackson for Buckingham Palace.
