Princess Anne: Charles won’t change as King

Princess Anne has already earned her place as one of the most dedicated and respected working royals, often being described as the hardest-working and recognised for her commitment to the monarchy.

Although she is no longer the daughter of the reigning monarch, her jam-packed schedule has been tipped to persist, with a royal commentator suggesting the Princess Royal will be put even further into the spotlight in coming years.

Pauline Maclaran, Professor of Marketing & Consumer Research in the School of Management at Royal Holloway, told Express.co.uk Anne is likely to take on an even “more prominent role” under her brother King Charles III’s reign.

She said: “There will be a core group, probably still with Princess Anne, who has always been a stalwart. I would see her maybe playing a slightly more prominent role; I would expect she would be one who we’ll maybe see more of.”

Anne is part of the King’s ‘slimmed-down’ Royal Family, which currently sees just nine royals carry out official duties.

She was given a particularly special role at the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on May 6, reportedly in an ode to her “loyalty and unwavering devotion” to the monarch.

The Princess Royal, 72, served as the Gold-Stick-in-Waiting during the Coronation Procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

While Charles and Camilla returned to the Palace in the Gold State Coach after the ceremony, Anne led 6,000 armed services personnel through the streets of central London.

The prestigious ceremonial role originates from the 15th century and is jointly held by the Colonels of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals — a position the Princess has held since 1998.

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The Gold-Stick-In-Waiting is responsible for the monarch’s safety, and having previously been described as one of Charles’s closest confidantes, it is perhaps unsurprising that Anne was chosen as his protector.

The Princess spoke about her role in a recent interview with Adrienne Arsenault of the CBC last week.

“I have a role as the colonel of the Blues and Royals in the Household Cavalry regiment as the Gold Stick [in Waiting], and Gold Stick was the original clothed protection officer,” she said. “That is a role I was asked if I would like to do for this coronation, so I said yes, not least of all, it solves my dress problem.”

Anne was the only member of the Royal Family to ride on horseback, garnering attention from several royal fans.

One declared the Princess a “straight bad a**” for leading the procession, while another tweeted: “OMG Princess Anne!!! Totally Boss Princess!!!”

“Princess Anne is the baddest one in this family! How did I just now realise it?! Go ahead, girl!” another user wrote.

A third person added: “I’d take Princess Anne as my personal bodyguard any day.”

According to body language expert Judi James, Anne is Charles’s closest friend in the Royal Family.

While Ms James admitted the pair may have had rocking beginnings, comparing Anne’s stoicism to Charles’s “tendency for self-reflection and self-pity,” Ms James said the pair were now firm friends.

She told Express.co.uk: “The pair seem to have grown into a much closer sibling/friendship ‘fit’” in recent years, which could “see Anne viewing Charles as her closest friend in the Firm”.

And, according to the expert, Anne has come to “see her place in Charles’s life as his wing-woman and defender”. The Princess is “someone who gets it and someone he can trust and visa versa,” she added.

Meanwhile, during Anne’s rare sit-down with the Canadian public broadcaster at St James Palace, she spoke about how her brother is adjusting to being monarch. “Well, you know what you’re getting because he’s been practising for a bit, and I don’t think he’ll change,” she said. “You know, he is committed to his own level of service, and that will remain true.”

The Princess also touched on the other senior royals, revealing they are still figuring out how their roles will change during Charles’s reign. “For the rest of us, it’s more a question of, we have to shift the way we support, and that’s what we need to do,” she explained.

“There was an order to the years, because my mother didn’t change very much. We knew what the rhythm of the year was, so things like that will change.”

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