Princess Anne explains why being a royal is harder for Kate Middleton than it ever was for her

The Princess Royal, who is celebrating her 74th birthday today, remains a paragon of dedication to royal duties, often outpacing other family members in her work ethic and showing no signs of stopping.

Princess Anne is known for her low-key approach, with her numerous official engagements often flying under the radar due to her preference for minimal media fuss.

Reflecting on her decades of service in a candid interview for her 70th birthday in 2020, Princess Anne shared insights into the evolving nature of royal life, particularly highlighting the challenges faced by today’s younger royals like the Princess of Wales.

In the documentary ‘Anne: The Princess Royal at 70′, which aired to commemorate her milestone birthday, she empathised with the newer generation of working royals, acknowledging the intensified scrutiny they face, exacerbated by the relentless pace of social media.

She commented on the stark contrast between her early days and the current climate, saying, “The pressure that is applied to the younger members of the family, it’s always worse. That’s what the media is interested in. That’s hard sometimes to deal with. But there was no social media in my day, and it’s probably made it more difficult.”

Princess Anne also mused on the impact of digital communication, noting its limitations compared to personal interactions: “With online technology… being in touch is one thing but it’s not quite the same. The ability to meet people, that’s what makes the difference. I know what Twitter is, but I wouldn’t go anywhere near it if you paid me frankly. But that’s a slightly different issue.”

Other notable figures also appeared in the documentary, paying tribute to the Princess’ tireless commitment to her role. Lord Sebastian Coe recalled a particularly amusing incident, saying: “The Princess Royal was on the big committee and her contribution was seismic and it was always to the point, she doesn’t always suffer fools gladly and she doesn’t speak for the sake of speaking.”

“I do remember after a rather long-winded interjection by one of the committee members she had actually forgotten to turn her microphone off and she did manage to utter the immortal words ‘I think this person is probably the most stupid person in world sport’.”

“This echoed absolutely around the room and she never flinched, it was as though it had never happened and we just moved on but it is probably one of my favourite moments.”

Princess Anne later teamed up with the Prince and Princess of Wales for a special episode of Mike Tindall’s The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.

Among the many special moments and sweet revelations, viewers witnessed a funny moment where the Princess and Kate both teamed up to poke fun at Prince William’s rugby skills.

He told the group: “I played at school. I loved it, and…” At this point Kate interrupts, looks her husband directly in the face and playfully asks: “Did you? Did you?” The group then fell about laughing with one co-host crying out to Kate: “You said you weren’t competitive!”

At which point Anne interjects, saying: “That was just the question never mind the answer!” To which William adds diplomatically that he is trying to be polite so will hold back on what he really wants to say about Kate.