Instead of fading into the background at the age of 75 the Princess Royal is becoming the popular modern face of the monarchy. This month the princess is travelling to Korea and Thailand with her husband Sir Tim Laurence for a sophisticated itinerary that includes technology, scientific advances, military anniversaries and a Save the Children project.
Princess Anne works extremely hard and has vowed to keep on doing so. She also doesn’t believe in spending money on personal adornment just for the sake of it. The public loved that she attended her son Peter Phillips’ wedding to Harriet Sperling in a hat she wore to her daughter Zara’s christening in 1981. Her floral dress dated to 1986. One of the few advantages of being royal is that you have access to seamstresses and milliners who can redesign a frock or hat and keep clothes going for years longer than their natural life span.
Anne saw to the future happiness of her children decades ago when she refused titles for them, sparing them the burden of duty and expectation. The result is what you see today: a family that looks refreshingly normal and a monarchy that feels more in step with the world around it.
It was wonderful to see the Prince of Wales swept up in the euphoria when the football team he supports, Aston Villa, became Europa League champions in Istanbul. The prince shouted, hugged, cried and jumped up and down with the mates who had travelled with him. Interestingly he had previously admitted on a podcast with former professional Peter Crouch that watching football gives him the essential release he needs from his royal life. This is similar to his father’s admission that playing polo was his emotional release from royal life when he was Prince of Wales.
On 4 June the King’s granddaughter Lilibet celebrated her fifth birthday in Montecito, looking very much a Spencer with her strawberry blonde hair; and Prince William celebrated his 44th birthday on 21 June. The Queen will be 79 on 17 July: it is remarkable how little she has slowed down despite not being born to the job. Apart from a brief pause after the US state visit, she has been steadily at the King’s side, carrying out a full programme of engagements with the good humour that is her hallmark. One of the most endearing moments came at Clarence House, when she hosted a tea party for seriously ill children and their families for the Dreams and Wishes charity. It was unshowy, warm and entirely focused on the guests. And nothing captured the spirit of the day more perfectly than seven-year-old Rupert Williams who, with his glass of water, raised a toast of thanks to the Queen for her hospitality, leaving her both impressed and moved.
It is only a matter of weeks until the King and his family begin their Scottish summer sojourn. In the foreword to a new Balmoral Castle guidebook His Majesty describes the estate as a ‘uniquely special place’, calling it a ‘cherished home’ with ‘startling individuality’ and a ‘precious, almost sacred, surrounding landscape’. He also reminds us that it was ‘in these most beloved of surroundings’ that his late mother chose to spend her final days.
