Princess Anne: Expert on 'decision' about children's upbringing

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Anne has been a full-time working royal since she left school as a teenager. Now 70, she is considered a stalwart within the royal fold and has been praised for her unwavering dedication to the crown over the years. She spoke about her extensive experience during an interview with Vanity Fair, which was conducted just a month after Meghan and Prince Harry officially “stepped back” from the royal frontline. She urged the younger generation to not “forget the basics”.

Anne claimed she advises other royals: “Please do not reinvent the wheel, we’ve been there, done that.”

She did not mention the Sussexes’ name, but many assumed it was a jibe aimed at the couple as they were trying to persuade the Palace to allow them to have a “half-in-half-out” role with the monarchy just a few weeks before.

In her interview with Oprah, Meghan recalled her attempts with Harry to “carve” out this new position which would enable them to be out of the spotlight and be “financially independent”.

Interestingly, she specifically said she and Harry were “not trying to reinvent the wheel”.

She claimed: “We never left the family and we only wanted to have the same type of role that exists, right?

“There’s senior members of the family and then there are non-senior members.

“And we said, specifically, ‘We’re stepping back from senior roles to be just like several [other minor royals].”

She said she could think of “so many” royals who enjoy HRH status, are princes or princesses, dukes or duchesses, “who earn a living, live on Palace grounds can support the Queen if and when called upon”.

She continued: “So we weren’t reinventing the wheel here.

“We were saying, ‘OK, if this isn’t working for everyone, we’re in a lot of pain, you can’t provide us with the help we need, we can just take a step back. We can do it in a Commonwealth country.’”

She claimed they suggested New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

Meghan may have been referring to Harry’s cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, who have retained their HRH status but both have full-time jobs outside of the Royal Family.

They only attend large events with the Queen, such as Trooping the Colour, and only on these occasions are they accompanied by police protection.

The Sussexes’ plan was rejected, as they were told they could not create a new position for themselves.

Anne’s comments last year were also perceived as a slight towards any attempts to change royal tradition.

She described herself as the “old fuddy-duddy in the back” encouraging others to not “forget the basics”.

She explained: “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’.

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“And I’m already at the stage, ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel.

“’We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’”

Interestingly, Anne decided not to give titles to her own children — Zara and Peter — when they were born, so they could dodge the royal spotlight.

It was thought that Meghan and Harry replicated that decision with their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, during the interview with Oprah, the Sussexes claimed it was not their decision for Archie to be without any titles.

ITV News royal editor Chris Ship also claimed that Anne and Meghan might be similar than expected last year.

He said the Princess Royal also faced intense scrutiny during her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips.

He asked: “Were they the Harry and Meghan of the day?”

Anne was also expected to be one of the senior royals who would step up and take on some of Harry and Meghan’s patronages in their absence.

The Palace is yet to make any declarations on that front.

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