Princess Anne has taken Princess Charlotte under her wing, according to reports, and is giving the young royal invaluable advice about her role within the family.
Anne is perfectly placed to show Charlotte the ropes – both grew up with an older brother destined to be King with the Princess Royal proving to be invaluable to King Charles. A palace insider told Woman’s Day, via the Express: “They’re talking ALL the time about everything and anything, women’s football, sailing, horses, ballet, fashion, manners… Essentially she’s foolproofing Charlotte into becoming the perfect princess and standby queen.”
Anne is also said to be ” inadvertently giving her some juicy gossip on the family by going through some of the worst faux pas a royal can make,” the source added, “from her uncle partying in Nazi uniforms to Beatrice’s dreadful fascinator at her parents’ wedding”. A key area of focus for Anne is Charlotte’s bond with Prince George as she tries to ensure that they won’t end up rivals like William and Harry, instead growing up with the healthy mutual respect that has always marked Anne and Charles’s relationship.
William and Kate are said to be especially thrilled by Anne’s efforts. “They couldn’t imagine a better role model than Anne, who is renowned for her work ethic and impregnable support for the King. She doesn’t put a foot wrong whilst still having her opinions not only heard but respected. Anne was invaluable to Kate during those early uncertain years, especially as a commoner. She wants Charlotte to have the same candid tough love Anne gave her.”
Princess Anne is known to be the hardest working royal – and she is much loved for her practical, down to earth approach to royal life. The no-frills 73-year-old – who opted not to give her children royal titles – had a typically witty retort recently when she was told by a youngster at an RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) event that she didn’t look like a princess. The incident was recalled on The Royals with Roya and Kate podcast following Anne’s return to royal engagements after a horse-related accident.
The host said: “I spoke to someone very senior at the RDA who remembered her coming to see a display by some children at an RDA event and the children that we work with as volunteers at the RDA have all different levels of learning disabilities, different levels of autism, physical disabilities and there was one girl there who was involved in the display and they came to meet Princess Anne afterwards.
“And she was introduced to her and [they] said ‘This is the Princess Royal’ and she said, ‘You don’t look like a princess’. Princess Anne said ‘Thank goodness for that, I’m so pleased to hear that.’ Everyone laughed at her response… she just literally takes things in her stride.”
