Princess Anne 'set a new trend' with her 'micro wedding'

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Princess Anne is among the most popular members of the Royal Family, in particular among older generations. And, according to a royal commentator, one of the reasons for her success among Britons may be due to her “un-PC [politically correct]” nature.

Ian Lloyd, author of The Duke: A Life in 100 Chapters, told Express.co.uk: “Princess Anne is very, very popular.

“Whenever I meet people and talk about who is their favourite royal, somewhere there is a mention of Princess Anne in that.

“And a few years ago there was a poll on who could be Britain’s president if it became a republic, and Princess Anne topped it.

“That was one poll, but I think people would like her as a president, I think partly because she is quite un-PC and like her father she is very forthright.” 

As an example of Anne’s straightforwardness, Mr Lloyd recalled a moment from the ITV documentary released in 2020 to mark the Princess Royal’s 70th birthday.

Speaking to royal author Robert Hardman, the Queen’s only daughter spoke about social media while discussing how she had kept in touch with her loved ones and her patronages during the lockdown.

She said: “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.” 

Commenting on Anne’s frank answer on Twitter, Mr Lloyd said: “She just says what she feels and I think people respect her and like her for that.”

Another factor certainly contributing to Princess Anne’s popularity is her commitment to royal work.

The Princess Royal is regularly counted among the hardest-working members of her family for the number of days worked and engagements completed during the year.

This year, she further showed her support to the Queen and the Crown by adjusting her packed diary to add more than a dozen investiture ceremonies to her schedule since July.  

This effort helped the Firm deal with a backlog of investitures created by the pandemic and the suspension of all the face-to-face engagements for several months.

Princess Anne is currently the fifth most liked member of the Royal Family, according to a YouGov poll focused on the popularity of members of the Firm.

She comes behind the Queen, the late Prince Philip, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

Among the 1327 UK adults polled in the third quarter of 2021, a total of 54 percent said to like the Princess Royal.

Baby Boomers, people born before 1964, are particularly keen on Princess Anne, with 72 percent of those polled saying they like her.

Gen X, a group encompassing people born between 1665 and 1980, are split over Anne, with 50 percent saying they like her.

And, the survey shows, 37 percent of the people polled born between 1981 and 1996, also known as Millennials, said to like the Princess Royal.

Using the same data gathered for the royal popularity survey, YouGov also included Princess Anne in another popularity poll, which lists who Britons consider the most popular public figures, regardless of their nationality, status or age.

While this chart is topped by the Queen, Princess Anne is in the eighth position with 54 percent.

She is considered less popular by Britons than Martin Luther King Jr, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, the late Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge.

But she is more liked by Britons than – among others – the Dalai Lama, which is in ninth place, Prince Charles, in 10th position, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, in 18th position.

Ian Lloyd The Duke: A Life in 100 Chapters, the History Press, is now available in paperback.

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