How Princess Anne earned her nickname as ‘hardest working royal’
The Princess Royal has close relationships with more than 300 charities (Picture: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
As Princess Anne marks her 75th birthday today, she continues to live up to her nickname of ‘hardest working royal’.
Much has changed for the Royal Family in the three years since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and accession of Charles III, but the Princess Royal shows no signs of winding down.
Renowned for her work ethic, having carried out 474 engagements last year, Princess Anne has often let some more of her personality shine through in her work compared to her more stoic and tight-lipped mother.
The 16th in line to the throne excels as a brilliant networker unafraid to make her feelings public: in 2019, she trended worldwide on Twitter after she appeared to bicker with the Queen over greeting then-President, Donald Trump.
However, Princess Anne also enjoyed a close-knit relationship and an easy rapport with the late monarch, with the two regularly attending engagements together.
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Describing Elizabeth II as ‘caring’ throughout her childhood, in her tribute, Anne added that while she was the head of state, she was also her mother.
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‘She gave a lifetime [of service], literally 24/7, 365 days a year,’ she said. ‘She was always the Queen because that was really important for all of us, but she was always my mother so that is how you would remember her.’
With Princess Anne boasting a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, a stint in the Olympics and even batting off a kidnapping attempt, we look back at how this rock solid royal has led an incredible life of service to her family and how she will assist the new King in his role.
Born in 1950, shortly before Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, Princess Anne has always had a close relationship to big brother, Prince Charles. With their parents regularly going on royal engagements together, Anne and Charles regularly relied on each other for company (Picture: Bettmann Archive)
Compared to Charles, who was said to be a ‘quiet’ and ‘sensitive’ child, Anne was most definitely the more domineering sibling. Mabel Anderson, a former royal nanny, said that Charles was ‘never as boisterous or noisy as Princess Anne’ who by far had the ‘much stronger, more extrovert personality’ (Picture: AP)
What is Princess Anne’s full royal title?
Her official title is Anne, Princess Royal.
Princess Royal is a title usually given by a monarch to their eldest daughter – Anne also happened to be the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
The title remains unchanged even if the holder outlives the monarch who gave them the title, as was the case with Anne.
The 11-year-old Princess’s love of horses is clear here, in this picture of her stroking a horse at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1961. With Elizabeth II being a lifelong lover of horses, it was only natural that both Charles and Anne were encouraged to share her interest, with Anne having horse riding lessons at Holyport’s Smith Stables. Anne debuted in her first public horse riding competition in 1961 (Picture: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty)
In this photo from 1960, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth sit with their children, including a newborn Prince Andrew, by Balmoral castle. With 10 years between herself and the next youngest royal, Princess Anne was certainly much closer to Charles as they grew up. However, while they both loved and respected each other, Charles and Anne’s conflicting personalities occasionally led to arguments between the pair. ‘Anne was physically more robust than her brother,’ explains royal biographer Nicholas Courtney. ‘There are quarrels in every family, Princess Anne even admitting in retrospect that she and her brother “fought like cats and dogs”‘ (Picture: AP)
Landing the front cover of Vogue in 1971 for her 21st birthday, Anne’s beauty in her youth saw her regularly compared to the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret. The two were thought to have lots in common, according to biographer Nicholas Courtney. ‘More quick-witted than their elder sister and brother respectively, they were both indulged by their fathers,’ he explained (Picture: Vogue)
What have been Princess Anne’s official duties?
The Princess Royal’s first engagement was the opening of an educational and training centre in Shropshire in 1969, when she was aged 18.
Currently, she is involved with more than 300 charities, organisations and military regiments based in the UK and abroad.
One of her most notable roles has been President of Save the Children UK, a role she has held for 55 years.
She is also President of the British Olympic Association, following from her interesting history with the Games. More on that later.
This picture from 1972 sees both Princess Anne and Charles in their early twenties, as well as the younger Princes, Andrew and Edward. As Princess Anne grew up, she was expected to do more public engagements – something she really disliked as a teenager. ‘We hated them, can you imagine as teenagers? ‘ she has since recalled. ‘Hardly the sort of thing you would volunteer to do. It gets easier but can you imagine? How many people enjoy walking into a room full of people you’ve never met before -and then try a street’ (Picture: George Freston/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty)
Known for bucking trends among the royal family, Princess Anne was the first royal ever to receive a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was nominated by President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia for her work as president of the charity Save the Children, in 1990. The Princess Royal became president of the organisation in the 1970s, and worked diligently alongside them in her earliest work as a senior royal (Picture:Getty/PA)
In a documentary that aired to celebrate Princess Anne’s 70th birthday, the Princess Royal recalls a time she was nearly kidnapped, shortly after her wedding to Mark Phillips in 1974. While Ian Ball waved a handgun at Princess Anne, urging her to get out the car, she was widely praised for keeping a cool head in the situation, replying, ‘Not bloody likely.’ She has since said she still clearly remembers the incident like ‘snapshots’ in her mind (Picture: ITV News)
The Windsors have put on a united front following the news of the Queen’s death. After the late monarch was put under medical supervision by her doctors, it was Charles and Anne that stayed by her bedside, and sat with her until her passing. Other senior royals, such as Prince William and Prince Andrew, flew up to Balmoral upon news that the Queen was on her deathbed, and many have stayed in Scotland as many have paid their respects. Here, Anne looks on at flowers left at Balmoral with her two children, Peter and Zara (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
In this picture taken in June this year, the now King Charles joined Princess Anne as they attend the Thistle Service at St Giles Cathedral. While Anne has not currently been given any further titles by the King, she is thought to be his ‘right-hand woman’ will making decisions. ‘In the same way that the Queen had Princess Margaret to turn to for most of her life, the King has the Princess Royal,’ a source told The Telegraph. ‘There is something quite steadying for him having her around, because they are close and they love to share a joke, but she also absolutely respects the role he inhabits. They always seem very happy to be in each other’s company’ (Picture: Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)
Did Princess Anne compete in the Olympics?
Yes, Princess Anne was a competitor in the 1976 Summer Olympics which took place in Montreal, Canada.
She took part in the equestrian three-day event, riding the Queen’s horse Goodwill.
Though she did not win a medal, her daughter Zara Phillips won silver as a member of the British team in the same event at the 2012 London Olympics.
As President of the British Olympic Association, the Princess Royal presented her with her medal.
Princess Anne’s famed sense of humour is on show here as she visited the Epsom Downs Racecourse earlier this year. While in her early years, Anne was considered one of the less popular royals, she is now seen as somewhat of a national treasure, according to royal editor Camilla Tominey. ‘Where once Anne was regarded as haughty and standoffish, she is now hailed as one of the great English eccentrics whose unparalleled royal work ethic, has rightly earned her national treasure status’ (Picture: REUTERS)
While she first married Captain Mark Phillips in 1974, the marriage broke down and the pair divorced in 1992, in what the Queen famously called her ‘annus horribilis’. In December 1992, she married her now-husband, Timothy Lawrence, pictured above. The pair had first met in 1986, after Lawrence served as an equerry to the Queen (Picture: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
In this engagement from May this year, the Princess Royal met veterans at The Not Forgotten Association at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party. Anne has regularly been described as the ‘hardest working royal’ for numerous years, taking on an astonishing 387 official engagements last year (Picture: Reuters)
Here, Princess Anne is caught sharing a giggle with Kate Middleton, the new Princess of Wales, as they watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force in 2018. The pair are thought to have a good relationship, with Anne previously having spoken about about the struggles the new generation of senior royals are facing. ‘The pressure that is applied to the younger members of the family, it’s always worse,’ she said in a documentary that marked her 70th birthday. ‘That’s what the media is interested in. That’s hard sometimes to deal with. But there was no social media in my day, and it’s probably made it more difficult’ (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Why was she nominated for the Nobel Prize?
In 1990, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia nominated Princess Anne for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This was a direct result of her work with Save the Children UK.
The Princess Royal has travelled the world in support of the charity, visiting countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone.
That year, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev for his role in bringing down the Iron Curtain towards the end of the Cold War.
Princess Anne regularly accompanied her mother to events and engagements. In this photo from 2017, the pair attended the Royal Ascot. They’re both keen horsewomen, and both enjoyed riding on horseback, and watching the royal horses participate in events (Picture: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson may well look a little nervous, as he meets Princes Anne at an engagement in June earlier this year – the Princess Royal was known to have inherited Prince Philip’s razor-sharp tongue. In a profile written by Vanity Fair, Anne was described for ‘having a reputation… for her waspish wit’ (Picture: PA)
Princess Anne has always enjoyed a close relationship with her children, Peter and Zara. While being a stickler for the rules herself, one royal commentator described the Princess as being ‘a royal renegade’ for choosing to forego titles for her children. It’s something Zara has since said she was ‘very grateful’ for this choice, as it allowed her to have a mostly ‘normal’ childhood (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
What titles and honours does Princess Anne hold?
In addition to her titles as President and patron of many charities and other good causes, Princess Anne holds a number of other decorations and honours.
She is an Admiral in the Royal Navy, a General in the British Army, and an Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force.
Princess Anne is also a Recipient of the Royal Family Order of Charles III, a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, an Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and a Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Sovereign.
Princess Anne’s love of equestrian sports translated into a career at which excelled. Regularly competing against other professionals at events, the young Princess was chosen to represent the UK – the first member of the royal family to do so – at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. While she did not win a medal on this occasion, Anne was highly decorated from other events (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty)
And sporting excellence runs in the Windsor blood, with Princess Anne awarding her daughter, Zara Tindall, the silver medal after the Eventing Team Jumping Final during the 2012 Olympic Games in London (Picture: Alex Livesey/Getty)
Following the Queen’s death, Princess Anne was pictured taking a deep curtsy as the Queen’s coffin arrived at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The emotional scenes, which were watched on by well-wishers, saw Anne comforted her sister-in-law, the Countess of Wessex (Picture: Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty)
Princess Anne has been travelling with the Queen’s coffin as it makes its way down from Balmoral and heads towards London, for the state funeral on 19th September. She has spoken continuously about the respect she had for her mother, and how she dedicated her life to service. ‘I think that’s a remarkable skill to know what the true values are, and stick with those, not worry too much about the things, the fashions, the things that come and go, and to understand what the bedrock of society is,’ she told ITV (Picture: ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS / POOL / AFP)
This article was first published on September 12 2022.
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