British royal family news shows that Princess Anne is equal parts grace and grit. She is known as the hardest working royal but she enjoys a good laugh, even at her own expense: “When I appear in public, people expect me to neigh, grind my teeth, paw the ground, and swish my tail – none of which is easy.”
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Anne is a royal rebel albeit one who would never cross the line in the way that traitorous Prince Harry has. Like Harry, Anne is a spare, but she has always acted like royalty. Here are a few golden examples of Anne’s epic life and times.
Royal Family News – She Survived A Kidnapping Threat
In 1974 a deranged man, Ian Ball, fired at her vehicle, injuring the driver, a journalist and two police officers.
On “Parkinson in Australia” she said that the con walked up to her, informed her she was being kidnapped and that he was demanding a £2 million ransom. When he demanded that she exit the vehicle she told him “Not bloody likely!”
She added “He said I had to go with him … I said I didn’t think I wanted to go. I was scrupulously polite because I thought [it was] silly to be too rude at that stage.” According to her the one timeshe did lose it was when her dress got ripped. The police handled the incident without further injuries and Anne escaped without a scratch.
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Royal Family News – She Drove a Professional Sports Car
Princess Anne once snuck out of the palace and took a road trip to Silverstone with Formula 1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart, and no one was the wiser.
Years later they had a video call and described the day. According to The List “Stewart recalled that Anne wasn’t exactly happy that he was the one driving them to Silverstone when he picked her up at Windsor” in “a very hot British touring championship car.”
Pictures were taken that day but remained unpublished due to Buckingham Palace having no clue she had snuck out.
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Royal Family News – She Had Her License Revoked
Princess Anne’s need for speed resulted in several fines and her license being suspended over the course of the years.
In 2000 she mistakenly thought a police vehicle behind her was there to escort her and stepped on the gas not knowing that the siren and flashing lights were meant to have her pull over for “driving 93 mph in a 70 mph zone.
A guilty plea in court and $570 later, Anne was free to take to the road again guilt-free, albeit with an extra five penalty points against her license.”
Royal Family News – She Was The First British Royal To Give Birth At A Hospital
Princess Anne started the royal tradition of giving birth at St. Mary’s Hospital’s Lindo Wing and posing on the steps with baby. On a related note, Princess Anne did not give her children royal titles.
In 2020 she told Vanity Fair: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles. So I think that was probably the right thing to do.”
On the “Seven: Rob Burrow” podcast, Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall doubled down on her mother’s wise decision saying “From my point of view, I was obviously very lucky that my mother didn’t give us any titles, so I really commend her on that. We were very lucky that we kind of got to do it a bit our own way.”
Royal Family News – She Was The First Royal Olympian
The Princess Royal competed at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, with Queen Elizabeth horse, Goodwill. She didn’t medal, but she has three European Championship medals.
She told Vanity Fair of her love of the sport: “I thought if I was going to do anything outside of the royal family, horses was likely to be the best way of doing it. But then you have to find the right horse at the right time. The original horse I rode was bred as a polo pony and should never have been an event horse, but it worked, so that was very satisfying. But I always knew it was going to be limited time.”
The Princess Royal seems to have had the best of both worlds, and always come out on top. That’s why she is the royal family’s Greatest of All Time. After her mother Queen Elizabeth, of course!
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