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Princess Anne is believed to have said she would “get in touch” with Meghan and Harry if needed after being asked whether she thinks the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have been offended by her criticism towards younger royals. Rebecca English, the Daily Mail royal editor, wrote: “I’m told when asked whether Harry and Meghan might be a little put out by the implicit criticism, the Princess simply said she’d ‘get in touch’ with her nephew if need be.”
The Princess Royal, who is turning 70 next month, launched a thinly-veiled swipe at her younger relatives, without naming any royal in particular, in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Anne, one of the hardest-working member of the Royal Family, believes the Royal Family has a tried and tested approach to its duties and charitable work and it would not be helpful to revolutionise it.
Describing herself as “the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back saying”, Anne said: “Don’t forget the basics.
“I don’t think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past and it’s often true, isn’t it?
“You don’t necessarily look at the previous generation and say, ‘Oh, you did that?’ Or, ‘You went there?’
“Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh let’s do it a new way.’
“And I’m already at the stage, ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel.
READ MORE: Princess Anne ‘never been a natural at doing what is told’
“‘We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work.
“‘You may need to go back to basics’.”
Princess Anne is at the helm of more than 200 charities and has been recently awarded a honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen for her commitment to non-for-profit associations.
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The Princess Royal has been portrayed as a rebel who speaks her mind even if it defies conventions.
One friend of Anne told the Daily Mail: “She has never been, you might say, a natural in terms of doing what she is told.”
The Princess Royal got her first speeding ticket aged 20 – and has so far gathered four more alongside a month-long ban from driving.
Two decades ago, Princess Anne became the first senior royal to be convicted of a criminal offence when her dog bit two children as they walked in Windsor Great Park.
But she was also the first member of the Royal Family to take part in the Olympic Games, riding the Queen’s horse, Goodwill, in a three-day event at the 1976 Olympics in Canada.
Princess Anne is also said to avoid any drama – with one insider recalling the Queen and Prince Charles’s decision to have only those closest to the throne appear on Buckingham Palace’s balcony in 2012, during the celebrations for the monarch’s Diamond Jubilee.
While Prince Andrew is said to have been left upset by this decision, which may reflect the vision of Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy, Anne was far from furious.
A source who remembers the events well told the Mail: “Everyone was furious not to be on the balcony, except Princess Anne.
“Status means nothing to her. And she definitely doesn’t do drama.”
