Last year, the Windsors were in crisis – King Charles was being treated for cancer and he had to severely limit his public schedule. The Princess of Wales went missing for months as we were fed various stories about her absence, stories which are still being reconstructed as we speak. Then, in June, Princess Anne was apparently found unconscious in a field on her estate. She had a terrible head injury which left her profoundly concussed. She was hospitalized for five days, and her husband Tim Laurence seemed very concerned. What was weird is that after “hyping” the poor conditions of Charles and Kate, Buckingham Palace actively minimized Anne’s condition, trying to make it sound like “oh, just a minor head injury, no biggie.” They even sent her out on an event before her facial bruises healed. Last month, Anne spoke about how she still has no memory of what happened last June. This week, she visited the hospital where she stayed for five days following the injury and guess what? She has no memory of that either.
Last month, Princess Anne said she remembered “nothing” of the June 2024 horse accident on her Gatcombe Park estate that left her with a concussion. On Thursday, the royal made a return to Bristol’s Southmead Hospital to thank the medical staff who cared for her during her recovery. During the engagement, she said speaking to the staff helped her understand the situation better.
“You’ve been filling in the blanks, which partly—from my perspective—is really useful to know,” she said, according to the BBC. “Because I seriously don’t have any idea and, sadly, I don’t have huge memories of being in here either.” During her visit to the hospital, she also toured the ICU, air ambulance helicopter pad, and staff gardens.
On June 23, the royal was in a field when she was seemingly injured by a horse. She was eventually airlifted to Southmead, where she remained as an inpatient for five nights. Though said she didn’t remember her time in the hospital, she said she was thankful for the treatment they gave. “I just know I was really well looked after, so thank you,” she said. “Whatever you did, it seemed to work.”
After the injury, Anne was forced to cancel a planned tour of Canada, along with a handful of engagements in the UK. But within a month, she was back to her royal duties. In late July, the longtime member of the International Olympic Committee made a series of appearances at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Anne told the ICU staff that she had “relatively straightforward” recovery.
“That isn’t always true, so I’m really grateful,” she said. “I’m also grateful in a weird sort of way that I remember nothing because that has huge advantages you can just carry on.”
I’m really mad on Anne’s behalf that Buckingham Palace minimized what she went through and they didn’t have a problem sending her on events before she had healed and recovered. The more we hear, and the more Anne speaks, it’s clear that this was a major head injury and a really serious concussion, if not a traumatic head/brain injury. People die from concussions, people die from traumatic brain injuries, and the palace was like “nothing to see here, folks!” Charles didn’t even visit his “beloved sister” in the hospital! Anyway, I wonder if we’re going to find out that Anne’s memory loss was much more profound than anyone has admitted. I also wonder if there were and are other other issues, like aphasia, headaches, extreme fatigue.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
- The Princess Royal is greeted by Maria Kane, the Joint Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, as she arrives for a visit to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024. The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later.,Image: 960792982, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall/Avalon/Avalon
- The Princess Royal meets clinicians during a visit to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024. The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later.,Image: 960794010, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall/Avalon/Avalon
- The Princess Royal speaks with the choir at Southmead Hospital in Bristol during a visit to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024. The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later.,Image: 960794028, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall/Avalon/Avalon
- The Princess Royal during a visit to Southmead Hospital in Bristol to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024. The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later.,Image: 960794047, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall/Avalon/Avalon
- The Princess Royal speaks with the choir at Southmead Hospital in Bristol during a visit to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024. The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later.,Image: 960794061, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ben Birchall/Avalon/Avalon
She was in the ICU so this was no, “Oops, I bumped my head.” Buckingham Palace has always treated her like a workhorse not a show horse.
Mmmhmmm…and people wonder why Prince Harry didn’t look at Anne, Edward and Andrew and think, “Hey that’s exactly what I want my next 50 years to look like!”
Yet Kate got video productions and daily articles. She announced it would take time for her to get back to work and goes on a ski trip. Anne s condition is hardly mentioned.
A profound lack of care from BP to have her out and about after that. To not be able to remember your accident is one thing but an entire hospital stay? Wow.
It’s good she’s gone to the hospital and thanked her medical team. What a strange and scary injury.
I’m glad Anne’s up and about again. It’s really nice that she took the time to thank everyone who cared for her, and that must seem really odd since she has no recollection of any of it.
IRL people who undergo anesthesia, were hooked up to breathing machines during Covid, had a stroke…any time you have no idea and lose hours or days, this is apparently really traumatic.
Former ‘concussion’ patient here — they’re all, definitionally, a TBI; concussion is a slang term. Using the language of concussion minimizes what actually happens, the healing process, and the lifelong impacts. I specifically refer to the injury as a brain injury to help spread awareness. There’s no “really serious concussion, if not a brain injury” as written here. Feel free to update the language and framing here — we appreciate it!
Your statement is fine, no need to update. Fellow TBI with brain bleed here after traumatic accident and you are correct in saying there is a lifelong impact. Hope you are doing well now.
🎯
I’ve always felt there is more to this story than what’s been told. Who found her and why did they check that particular field? Was there a horse nearby? Are there usually unattended horses roaming about with no one to witness what happ? Any potential weapons on ground? How long had she been down and missing? If she was on her way to tend to the chickens how did she end up in the field away from her intended destination? And how did family know to go looking in that particular place?
Hmm…. Anne takes a serious injury and gets back on the horse so to speak and does her job. Can’t doesn’t seem to have a legit reason but that doesn’t stop her from milking it to death so she can “work” when she feels like it.
She’s Anne, not Kate. I was surprised she went back to work with bruises on her face. Especially such a short time after a serious injury. She’s no spring chicken.
She’s one, tough woman. She makes her brothers look like dish rags.
I don’t think Anne would be forced to do things if she didn’t feel up to it. Concussions can have symptoms that come and go and so for Anne she probably has good days and bad days. It is just that Anne doesn’t make whole videos about it.
Again it looks awful that both Charles and Anne in their 70s have dealt with serious health issues last year and still did so much more than Kate.
So good days and bad days?
And yet she perseveres, unlike good days/bad days Kate.
Her doctors, given her age, would not have approved a return to work so quickly after such a catastrophic injury, especially since she has a history of concussions dating back to her youth. Anne is the fiery battle ax in the family who is a lot like her tempermental father. She doesn’t take orders from anyone and her identity is tied to being the Windsor family work horse. She has done some amazing work with Save the Children and gets very little fanfair because she is a workhorse and not a clothes horse or a show horse. The royal family are supposed to embrace public service to justify their privilege. Her work ethic completely bypasses Will-not because she shows up regardless without alcohol being served, zoom/zoom big boy toys, celebrities, sports or press being present to hit the papers. Will-not spent months last year feeding and mismanaging the press frenzy around Keener’s (supposed) cancer diagnosis to justify taking most of the year off while looking like he was the ill spouse when be bothered to drag his lazy into the public eye.
Anne seems a little more open than before. I’ve heard that brain injuries can cause subtle or extreme personality changes. I wonder if it has happened to Annie. Meanwhile, William and Kate are being coddled like infants. You would think that expectations of the next monarch and consort would kick in soon.
Could just be facing up to her own mortality.
Yes, brain injuries do cause personality changes. My husband’s TIA caused some negative personality changes that took over a year to settle. It was a rough year.
Head injuries/any head trauma is very serious. It can lead to a brain hemorrhage. I did so much research on brain hemorrhages last year when my mom was hospitalized for two weeks in the ICU after she had one. However in my mom’s case it was in the very small number where it was completely spontaneous and random–there was no head injury or aneurysm which are the two main causes. And same for my mom, her time in the hospital is very hazy. She remembers parts of it and she remembers getting the hemorrhage, she was lucid for all of it. But in the first 24 hours after it all happened she was very confused and kept asking the same questions, mostly asking us who knew about her being in the hospital and she didn’t realize for the first day that she had been in the hospital for 24 hours.
Btw, my mom has made a full recovery. It’s been less than a year and she’s back to being her busy self but the first 3 months she had to take it easy and had a lot of follow ups. I can’t imagine my mom doing what Princess Anne does just days after getting released from the hospital and going back to work (my mom retired in 2023 and I’m glad she did because I think her brain saga would have forced her into retirement not on her terms). It’s probably just as well Anne remembers nothing but you absolutely cannot minimize head injuries, especially at that age!
Clearly both PoWs have been spoken to about pulling their weight on the work front because everybody has taken Princess Anne and KC’s longevity for granted. Disease and accidents can happen to anyone but RF did have a horrible year in 2024. There is a clear division in the reliable and steady carthorses versus show ponies in that family. Anne recently said that retirement is not an option because she has the same commitment to royal duty as her mum. I would love to know her opinion on Will ‘ s “work ethic.’
Anne is a pillar of strength – I believe that if it seemed the Palace minimised her injuries last year or that she went back to work too soon, it’s because Anne wanted it that way. End of story – Her reputation proceeds her.
as per Libra upthread, I too feel there is more to the story. I’m not even convinced there was a horse. We know one family member has a terrible, explosive temper. Do we think it’s reserved just for servants and his wife? Having read Maple L. Fields’ book The House of Windsor, Tabloid Edition and currently reading The House of Windsor, Death Toll Edition, I do believe there is more to Anne’s story than what we are lead to believe. Whether we ever learn the true truth or not, I struggle with the details as released. They just don’t make sense.
Separately re Anne, it’s my understanding it was Anne that encouraged King Charles to ‘throw the book’ at Harry to bring him back and strongly recommended the Frogmore Cottage eviction. So as far as I’m concerned, she’s Windsor all the way.
“it’s my understanding it was Anne that encouraged King Charles to ‘throw the book’ at Harry ”
We don’t know that. The first reports said it was Camilla and Will. Later, it was changed to Anne. Considering the information reported by Omid that Anne and Edward went to Charles to ask him to stop the media going after H&M before H&M decided to leave and Harry said in Spare that Anne was the only member who greeted him when he went to QE2 before her death was announced, I don’t believe it was Anne who told Charles to kick Harry off. I don’t think she would advise something like that to a father about his son, but Camilla definitely would. The first reports said Charles was angry because what Harry wrote about Camilla.
Inclined to agree with all that about Anne, and wouldn’t discount C&C’s involvement, but personally I’ve always thought the UK government had to have been behind it. Its purpose was to prevent H&M from returning to their lovely UK home, where their perceived threat to the RF’s image would continue.
Who knows where the C&C and/or Anne involvement really came from or what its purpose might have been……
As Harry said, it’s a dirty game.
@sevenblue – I don’t think it was Anne who had H&M evicted from Frogmore either. It’s just not her style, and from what I have read, she’s always been supportive of Prince Harry. It’s much more likely to have been Bulliam and Camzilla. I’m also sceptical of the story concerning Anne’s accident. She had gone to see her chickens which would have taken her along a path well away from the horses. I guess we’ll never know what really happened to her just like we’ll never know what’s really wrong with Kate.
Princess Anne was in my neck of the woods today, getting on with 3 engagements. This is how it works, you get some time off when your kids are small because you get to work all of the rest of your life, even into your 90s and 100s. No retirement until the Grim Reaper comes for you.
I don’t think Anne took time off when her children were young. It is only W&K giving excuses about school runs not to work. I also don’t believe W&K is gonna work more after their children grow up. At some point, the narrative is gonna shift to “busy” grandmother / grandfather, who can’t work.
With sevenblue above. There is no ‘have kids, don’t work for decades’ thing with the BRF. The whole Malta Lie was just that, a lie. QEII didn’t give W&K two years off, they weren’t part-time royals. They were expected to be full-time from the moment their engagement was announced – and they refused to work. Took all the perks of full-time (how many houses?) but none of the work. Philip even begged them publicly, in his own way, in his 90th birthday interview to get to work and they refused.
Sofie, as much of a bitch as she has revealed herself to be? Did 200+ engagements the year she was expecting Louise and the year after – after they had both nearly died. E&S weren’t even ‘working royals’ during those years, they were supposed to be earning their own livings. They were doing royal engagements – on the side – and still did more than W&K have ever done in a year combined.
When your kids are in school full time they aren’t small anymore. Kate ran out of excuses using the kids once Louis was at school for the entire day. And that’s ignoring how there is staff and a nanny there.
Kate also barely did anything for the years before she gave birth to George.
She had time to do a whole ass video saying she was cancer free. She can work way more.
I’ve read Chris Ship comments about Anne’s injuries and the fact that she admitted that she didn’t remember much. He blames the palace for the inconsistency of its message back then when Anne’s injuries were minimised :.”Given Princess Anne told medical staff yesterday she doesn’t have “huge memories” about her 5 day stay in hospital, her remarks appear in conflict with what we were told by Buckingham Palace on 24 June that she was being kept in hospital purely “as a precautionary measure ” . I found his comment rather caustic (it’s Anne, after all, so who cares?). I think it was more of a warning bell about the lies the palace spreads in general and in particular concerning Kate’s illness.
this is, by definition, a traumatic brain injury.