The Daily Mail’s royal editor, Rebecca English, has written the following analysis on Princess Anne’s role in the royal family and why today’s announcement will come as a shock.
It is hoped that it will only be out of service for about a week.
But knowing Princess Anne, it will be a week too long.
Three years ago I was invited to follow the King’s sister on an engagement day to mark her 70th birthday and saw first-hand her legendary work ethic.
Professional to the point of brusqueness, I have rarely seen a member of the royal family so knowledgeable about their subject.
Her agenda that day ranged from meeting emergency services personnel to visiting a company specializing in global water treatment projects and even staying at a veterinary school where she watched, Fascinated, the students proceed to decapitate a horse. Needless to say, she didn’t blink.
Anne, 73, is regularly named the hardest-working member of the royal family in annual polls each year, leading more than 400 to 500 engagements each year.
She also took over following her brother’s cancer diagnosis, regularly replacing him at public inaugurations in the early stages of his illness and treatment.
The princess also rarely takes a sick day – in fact, such a prospect is virtually unheard of, according to her staff.
That’s why today’s news comes as a real shock.
Much like Queen Elizabeth, we take for granted that the Princess Royal is there, still doing what she does so well with so little noise or fanfare.
How helpless we feel when, suddenly, it is no longer.
There is still a lot of uncertainty about what happened, certainly in part because of the concussion the princess suffered as a result of the incident.
It’s not even clear if she was with anyone at the time or if she was able to call for help herself – although it is understood that Buckingham Palace has a “working hypothesis” on what happened.
What we do know, however, is that she was walking on the guarded perimeter of her property when this happened and that her injuries are consistent with blows or kicks to the head or legs from a horse.
While emergency services were dispatched to Gatcombe Park, her beloved Gloucestershire estate where her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall both live with their families, a scrambled air ambulance was, thankfully, not necessary.
However, she was later taken to hospital in Bristol, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence, and the King, Queen, Prince of Wales and her other siblings were quickly informed.
Fortunately, she is comfortable and is expected to make a full – and hopefully speedy – recovery, but she is being kept under observation at Southmead Hospital, an NHS facility 29 miles by car from her home, which is entirely expected for a patient suffering from concussion and head injuries. .
There is no doubt that this admirably pragmatic character will balk at his enforced recovery period, especially as his team will now be forced to cancel no fewer than eight public engagements in the UK this week, as well as a travel trip work in Canada, where she had to fly. THURSDAY.
But the king, who earlier in the day made public his “deepest love and best wishes” for his sister, will understand.
He has always been closer to his sister than any of his other siblings and was heard affectionately greeting her after her coronation last year with an endearing message: “Hello, Old Bean!” and the widest of smiles. They always support each other.
As a former staff member who worked closely with her for several years told me today: “She’s going to hate it!” But she is an extraordinary woman and she will bounce back quickly. No one would ever dare tell him to slow down when I was there and I doubt that will change even after this!’
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