A life in the shadow of her older brother? Princess Anne takes it all in her stride. Even though she is rarely in the spotlight, she has become one of the most important members of the royal family.
She is considered hard-working, quick-witted and, above all, a great horse lover: Princess Anne, the younger sister of King Charles III, turns 74 on August 15th.
The only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II lives a life in the shadow of her older brother. But that never seems to bother her. On the contrary: her two children, Peter Phillips (46) and Zara Tindall (43), will not receive royal titles at her request. Anne thinks that this will make it easier for them to lead a normal life.
As much normality as possible is also her greatest wish as a teenager: As the first princess in the British royal family, she is not only taught by private tutors, but also goes to a secondary school
As a rider she takes part in the Olympic Games
Her great love has always been horses. She took part in the eventing discipline at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Anne even won gold and silver medals at European championships. As President of the British Olympic Association and a member of the Olympic Committee, she will also be seen at this year’s Games in Paris.
Her passion for riding also caused her to suffer several concussions. When her horse failed to jump a hurdle at a competition in 1976, she fell and was briefly buried under the animal. She lost consciousness and was taken to hospital. This was not her only riding accident. Just this year, she was hit by a horse and also ended up in hospital.
Boxer stops kidnapping attempt with two punches
Even more dangerous is an attempted kidnapping in 1974 on the boulevard The Mall in London. The luxury limousine in which Anne, just 23 years old, and her then husband, 25-year-old officer Mark Phillips, are travelling is forced to stop by a car.
An armed man gets out. He has his sights set on Princess Anne. He wants to kidnap her and extort several million in ransom. He shoots four men who stand in his way.
The only person who can stop him is a former boxer who happens to be passing by and knocks the mentally disturbed man down with two punches.
Anne separated from Phillips in the early 1990s and married naval officer Timothy Laurence.
She accompanies her mother on her last journey
She and her mother not only share a love of horses, the two have a close relationship. This will be especially evident with the Queen’s death in September 2022. Anne is the only one of the monarch’s four children to be with her in her final hours at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands.
When the coffin, wrapped in the royal standard, is flown to London by the Royal Air Force, Anne accompanies her mother on her final journey, exuding the same seriousness that always characterized Queen Elizabeth II.
Anne also has a humorous side. Like her father, Prince Philip, who died in 2021, she has a penchant for cracking jokes. A few years ago, she said of exercises in which she repeatedly took part as an honorary military officer at the wheel of tanks: “Perfect for Trafalgar Square, just solve all your problems!” The square in central London is notoriously plagued by traffic jams.
Slowing down is unlikely to be an option
Anne has held the title of Princess Royal since 1987. Her importance within the Royal Family has increased, especially in recent years: In addition to the death of her parents, the background to this is the voluntary withdrawal of Prince Harry (39) and Duchess Meghan (43) from the inner circle of the Royal Family, as well as her brother Andrew (64), who has fallen into disrepute due to his involvement in an abuse scandal.
Anne is in more demand than ever. Hardly a day goes by when she doesn’t visit a company, host a dinner for the employees of a charity or open a new sports field.
“I think people have noticed that she is the hardest-working member of the Royal Family with the amount of commitments she takes on,” said constitutional expert Craig Prescott of the Royal Holloway University of London in an interview with dpa. He cannot imagine that Anne, at 74, could be thinking about slowing down. “I don’t think she has any plans to slow down,” said Prescott.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
