Princess Anne is probably the only unproblematic royal figure at this point? And by that I mean, I can’t even think of how anyone could criticize her for anything, really. Yeah, she has a big country estate, but… she has horses and Zara and Mike live on that property and Anne really “uses” it. Anne just does her sh-t and goes home and rides her horses in peace. She does hundreds of events every year, and they’re the bread-and-butter royal events too, library openings and ribbon-cutting and shaking hands and just getting it done. It would be great if every royal figure was like Anne, but they aren’t. So big surprise that the Daily Mail’s Talk of the Town column is trying to dunk on Harry and Meghan using Anne’s no-nonsense badassery.
Prince ‘just call me Harry’ clearly likes to think he’s one of the ordinary people these days. But there’s one member of the Royal Family who could teach him a thing or two about what rubbing shoulders with the masses really means. While Harry enjoyed the comforts of an entire first-class train carriage when he travelled from an appearance in Edinburgh to London last week, Princess Anne was quite happy to brave the crowds on the London Underground when she needed to reach an appointment.
I’m told that she jumped on the Tube at Green Park, not far from her official London residence at St James’s Palace, and took a simple 15-minute journey to St Paul’s before heading for a London Fashion Week event nearby. The Princess Royal, 69, whizzed through the station barriers like a regular, causing no fuss as Londoners went about their daily business.
She was spotted by an incredulous but eagle-eyed member of Transport for London staff, who said: ‘She came through with another older woman and her security. We weren’t expecting any royalty. Hardly anybody seemed to notice them.’
At 69, Princess Anne qualifies for a Freedom Pass which grants the over-65s free travel throughout London. And while most people her age are enjoying retirement, she has never shirked her duties. So the Tube-riding Princess made the most of her trip to the City by making sure she completed two diary dates. Her first was the fashion event at St Etheldreda’s Church, where she presented The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. After that she made it to the nearby Guildhall for another ceremony, the Euromoney Wealth Management Awards.
Will Harry and Meghan be taking a leaf out of her book rather than lecturing the public on climate change and ‘sustainable travel’ while enjoying the use of private jets? Don’t hold your breath…
Ah, yes, why can’t Harry and Meghan be more like Princess Anne, a 69-year-old woman with grown children, who doesn’t give a f–k about anything. But… couldn’t you compare any other royal with Anne and those royals would be found wanting? Why can’t Prince Charles take a page out of Anne’s book and stop taking private jets everywhere? Why can’t William and Kate take public transport instead of their private helicopter, which was the Queen’s way of bribing them to do more work and raise their paltry event numbers, again in comparison to Anne? Why can’t His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, pop on the subway when he needs a quick Pizza Express alibi? Why can’t ALL of them be more like Anne? And why isn’t the conversation being framed that way?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I think Charles and William and Kate and the children cannot for security reasons.
But the York sisters (I know they are working royals anymore) could easily do that .
I do wonder whether they really couldn’t or whether that’s an excuse. Is the crazy level of security really needed? I’m not trying to say that to be shady but I’m genuinely curious about whether they go overboard with the security. Princess Anne is still the Queen’s daughter, so you’d think she’s still a target if that many people really are out to get them.
But she’s not the heir and the ffk/qc and the fffk.
ALL the rest of them *should* (York’s, Kent’s, Phillips, Tindalls) but I’m sure they won’t give up the perks.
FFS, Zara and Mike were just skiing in the part of Italy WORST HIT with a Corona Virus outbreak, and they arrogantly said they wouldn’t self-quarantine. What about all the people they come into contact with, including their own kids, if they’re incubating?? Selfish and entitled.
How do we know that they don’t? The only time we ever really see Eugenie or Beatrice is when they are at a public event with a bunch of celebs or if they call the paps on themselves. We don’t really see them at day to day stuff.
Is being first in line really that different, though? I mean, they are ALL in line to the throne, so if any of them cannot serve, the torch just passes to the next in line. It’s not like they need any particular level of education, or intelligence, or training, or experience, such that ONLY Charles or William or George can take the throne. I seriously doubt they’ll ever get to the point where there is nobody left to assume the throne. All that special security seems like overkill to me (and perhaps a deliberate ploy to make the royal family appear more important and “necessary” than they really are).
This is why I was asking. If someone is going to try to harm one of them, surely they’re all somewhat at risk and if they’re at risk of kidnapping and extortion, again surely the same applies. Take out one heir and you’ve got several more so that’s hardly likely to be the goal.
I guess only the government knows the specific risks but then it seems a little too convenient that it’s always confidential and therefore they’ll have all the security and private transport they like.
There is a huge difference between the police escorts, sniffer dogs, RPO’s and round the clock guarding of the royals who apparently must have every pleb vetted before coming into contact and the Queens daughter getting on the tube.
I love that Princess Anne was almost KIDNAPPED once and she still does things like this. I feel like I would still be so scared, even after years and years. Of course I would also never tell a kidnapper “Not bloody likely.” when asked to get out of a car at gunpoint, so I guess I’m all around just nowhere near as badass as Anne.
I’ve seen Beatrice in the tube. She was with her lady boyfriend and a security guard. It didn’t seem like an unusual thing.
My eyes cannot roll far enough back in my head after reading this.
Lol! I think I know what you mean.
I know a tiny bit about Princess Anne through work and from what I know, it seems to be true that she is low maintenance, hard working and just gets stuff done. However I think even without knowing them, I can confidently say that it is bs how Harry and Meghan are being singled out in this story. For one thing, doesn’t their security – along with the police, secret service, etc., determine what is safe or not at any particular time? I mean regardless of whether the Sussexes themselves were willing to hop on the tube, I imagine their protection officers would tell them no. The tabloids have made them huge targets in a way that they haven’t with any of the other royals. If they want to know why Meghan and Harry don’t use the tube they might want to look in the mirror for the answer.
The actress playing her in season 3 of the crown looks so much like her.
It’s just so weird, this focus on Harry and Meghan. These newspapers are either seriously blind to what they’re doing or seriously cynical in what they’re doing.
Taking the train to Edinburgh is the most environmentally friendly way to get there. I assume his security decides what car he rides in.
Online newspaper will run the stories that produce the most click$ for the mo$t revenue and the mo$t comment$ for click bait.
Hating on Meghan & Harry and driving the hate based tabloid commentariat is financially lucrative for the BM especially The Fail.
@ Mac
It’s also a beastly journey, London – Edinburgh is circa 8 or 9 hours of hard, unrewarding toil. Granted, the views in Scotland are absolutely breathtaking but 90% of the time, it’s grey field after grey field.
I can stomach one way there by train and fly back for the return journey. Return train journey is asking too much imho. 😕
Huh? It’s about four hours from Edinburgh to London if you get a fast train, I’ve been making that journey since I was a small child and the days of it taking 9 hours are long over. Even the slow route is only five and half hours! And there is no airport nonsense (security, traveling to and from the airport, etc) to deal with so the whole journey is much faster overall.
Perhaps. The normal train is still 8h 47mins though.
And we both know, if he took the fast train, some group would come out, wailing about how the fast train isn’t as environmentally friendly as the normal train, or some other complete bullshit.
If he *walked* to Edinburgh, you’d still come out, complaining about how he’s depriving the “system” of his train fare and how that has caused 500 widows to lose their jobs, and now their children can’t go to school and have to be illiterate.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles takes a private jet from his bedroom to his bathroom, and not a peep from you lot.
You lot are not credible. Simple as.
@bella What are you talking about? It isn’t 8 or 9 hours London to Edinburgh by train. It’s 4.5 to 5. And a “regular train” and “grey fields”? I don’t even know what you’re on about.
What Hrefna and E said. No perhaps about it.
I got the sleeper from London to Edinburgh the other week. Even that slow because it’s overnight journey is more than an hour quicker than the 8 hr 47 journey you refer to as “normal”.
Pointing out your error has nothing to do with anyone’s views on Harry and Meghan and comments about “you lot” just sound bizarre.
I have decided that Anne’s fashion style is best described as “Vintage Girl Scout Troop Leader.” I love it.
I’m Kate and Meghan’s age but I want to dress like Princess Anne. 😂😂😂 Shes just SO no nonsense.
Here for it.
Love this Bad- Ass woman. When Anne shops vintage she shops her own closet as she is still wearing clothes (very high end and very expensive) that she bought 40 years ago. The woman must still have a killer body to fit into 40 year old clothes. If she would do something with her hair she would look 30 years younger but she won’t as she does not give a fat rat’s clacker about looking or trying to look younger,
YOU GO GIRL!
I’m not trying to be mean but does anybody really care about Anne. I mean she’s a workhorse and does a ton of god but on the grand scheme of whose a heat score and needs protection I just don’t get the feeling she’s way up on the list. Honestly if I saw her I’d be like hmmm she looks familiar weird. But I would 100% recognize H/M, Charles, and the Waitys.
And yes I do know she was almost kidnapped but I think those days are long passed for her security concerns overall.
And yes I do know she was almost kidnapped but I think those days are long passed for her security concerns overall.
I think she prefers it that way, tbh. I would even suggest that, if it were up to her, she would completely forgo the security.
@Kiera – BayTampaBay cares a lot about Princess Anne,
Doesn’t Anne do some horse events/breeding and gets money from it while also being a working royal?
I remember reading that somewhere when someone was wondering why some royals can do commercial work and others can’t.
Yes, for many years she did (recently stopping). It is also said that she does not use the royal rota. So much for fairness.
Now, I wonder why Anne can get away with not using the Rota?
@Lowrider – Because the Royal Rota (read The Fail) is not really interested in Anne unless she is attending an event and sitting beside Andrew Parker-Bowles.
Here’s a headline from the Fail:
Sarah Ferguson reveals her ‘delight’ over latest business venture as she releases £1,742 fountain pens engraved with her ROYAL monogram
OK… so ANNE AND TQ of Petty can raise, race, and sell horses for profit, the Kents can put out books with HRH on the jackets, Cambridges trademarked THEIR HRH for their foundation, Pedo got cut into deals on his Profit in the Palace show AND used BP wasn’t it, to film!!!!!!
SO, they need to tell us in the cheap seats WHY H&M are SO horrible for wanting to keep Sussex Royal?
I would love to see what happens if Harry and Meghan just decide to take the subway. They’d probably be charged with inciting a riot. Interesting how for all intents and purposes, thanks to tabloids and jealousy, Harry and Meghan are the center of the monarchy, the others just circle around. Compare and contrast. He’s only 6th in line so why does everything go back to them? Also, I hate Anne’s bouffant hair, she’s had the same look since 1968.
Those sunglasses are a choice.
Seriously Anne is so IDGAF and while she’s no hero of the BRF, she definitely keeps me laughing.
I totally agree Kaiser. This story should have been framed about all of them or just been about Anne. From the opening 5 words ….”Prince ‘Just call me Harry’” it is obvious the article is going to be anti-Sussex. It seems to me that ever since Harry asked to be introduced in Scotland as just Harry, the online stories in UK magazines — such as HELLO, Town & Country, and Marie Claire — have taken a turn towards negativity. I look at them online almost every day and right up to about 10 days ago, articles mentioning the Sussexes tended to be at least neutral; however just recently a lot of their articles are more like Tatlers and have a definite anti-Sussex slant. I can’t decide if it’s over Harry’s choice of ‘title’ or if it is just about the Sussexes returning to England. …but it is weird.
Because a lot of people wouldn’t look at her twice, let alone recognise her.
Charles, Cambridges and Sussexes would cause a security liability, especially if riding with the Cambridge children.
Anne toon the tube to London’s fashion Week? Groundbreaking. To me what’s more annoying is the shade that Harry took a first class train car from Scotland to London. Spoiler alert: ITS A LONG ASS TRAIN RIDE. I took the train from London to Scotland and it was an overnight trip. I had a sleeping car and everything. I’m pretty sure my sleeping car was considered a first class compartment but by no means were the arrangements luxurious. Again, words and context matter.
@GG London to Edinburgh is approx 4.5 hours. It is not a long ass ride unless you elect to take a sleeper service.
Words and context do matter. In this case your words could be construed as misleading.
The journey doesn’t have to be overnight. It’s a choice for a lot of people, for the novelty and the experience. I elected to do that journey for those reasons a few weeks ago. Otherwise it’s a not that long c4.5 hour trip from city centre to city centre, with regular trains. Factoring in airport time not that much of a difference to flyinG.
She was rude to my mother once so she gets the evil eye from me, I’m afraid. Don’t have much time for her OR these double standards. She’s not getting regular threats to her life like Harry and Meghan, who can’t simply jump on the Tube (can you imagine the riots their presence would cause in a small, claustrophobic underground space with electrified rails nearby? It makes my flesh creep to even think about it). She made money from horse-breeding and told the press to bugger off: again with the double standards.
No, I think half the Firm’s vicious behaviour stems from the fact they’re so serene in their privilege, so utterly sure that they occupy their rightful place, so convinced that they are God’s appointed emissaries on earth, that they can’t believe anyone WOULDN’T want to be one of them. ‘You don’t want our existence? But how could you not? DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE???’
Ugh yeah I’m with you. Your poor mama. What did Anne do to her?!
@Sass and @Minx Not to go too deep into particulars, because my mum deserves her privacy, there was a public event and she was waiting to be introduced to PA. Anne got halfway down the line, looked at my mother and the two dignitaries with her, made a disgusted face like a constipated rhinoceros and wheeled off. All throughout the visit she and the person officiating the event found reasons to be where my mother wasn’t, kept moving in the opposite direction etc. My mother is an absolutely lovely, stellar person and PA and the officiator’s behaviour upset her to the point of tears. So as far as I’m concerned, Anne will always get the stink-eye from me. NO-ONE, particularly someone with such chronic dentistry, upsets my mother!
@AN that’s horrible. I’m so sorry!
Spill the tea please!
Meh, she seems entitled just like the rest of them, she’s just more low key about it. They’re all useless.
Is Woking on a subway route? It would be really convenient if it were…
They should be more like her. In that, I mean, they should be allowed to work as royals, not give the rota access, and still maintain all their benefits.
She seems just as entitled as the rest of them BUT she’s not as lazy as the younger generation and not a criminal like her brother. So there’s that.
Anne does all the Bread-n-Butter work and every mayor of every small town and village knows this when the request a “Royal” to hand out the prizes at annual flower show at the annual village fete and open a new care home wing in the same town/village on the same day.
Anne shows up on time to this low profile and non-glamorous stuff, properly dressed but not outshining anyone, appearing to be very interested in what is going on and the people love her for it.
The only good thing I can say about Anne. She refused to shake hands with Mr. and Mrs. Drumpf at BP. 🙂
Yes but she was friendly to Nixon when he was in office and she and Charles visited.
It’s gross the ownership people feel they have over royalty. Do they also demand that Boris Johnson or any other public servant take the tube or dictate their security or living arrangements, demand to see their babies etc. it’s crazy that this is continuing unchecked so the media is running amok with wild stories and unfair comparisons.
BoJo is an elected representative; the Royalty are just foisted on the people with no credentials or qualifications. Apples and Oranges.
It’s pretty dumb to suggest the tube when it doesn’t even take you to Edinburgh from London. The only way outside of driving there or flying there is to take the train, which is what Harry did.
Are there currently any neo-nazis in prison for threatening Anne’s life? No? Hmm weird bc there are for threats against Harry, with other documented hate crimes against he and Meghan and who knows what other insane violent threats that haven’t been reported. So no, they can’t just “hop on the tube” and it’s disgusting that the tabloid press continue to push this narrative, questioning their security costs and riling up the masses. What vile scum the british media are.
I know! It’s ridiculous, right. They are free to use stories like this to foster so much hate towards H&M. Then after fostering all of this hate towards them, they just sit back trying to look innocent by pretending it’s news, rake in their profits, and act like no one can see what they are up to. I think that if H&M win their court case against the Mail, that in lieu of a settlement and taking into consideration all of the muckraking-for-profit, the Mail should be required to pay H&M’s security costs for the next 10 years. I mean, it’s only fair that they should get a share of the profits that these rags are making off their backs. Let the British government provide the security, but send the bill to the Mail.
I think it’s sad I head and know close to nothing about her.
Didn’t Harry and Meghan leave? What are they on about?
Personally always liked Anne best. She is down to earth and hard working. Just qualities that I admire. Not putting down other members of the family, but I am just not really into them.
I admired Anne when we were both little. I believe her son Peter lives on her estate too. I think he and wife are separated. ??? To tell the truth I can’t keep up with the Royal Family personal gossip. They give me whiplash. ☺️