Princess Anne swaps parties for charity dinner to mark 75th birthday

Telegraph

11 hours ago

The Princess Royal has turned down parties and personal publicity for her 75th birthday, choosing instead to mark the milestone by hosting more than 100 of her charities at Buckingham Palace.
The Princess spent more than two hours at the gathering, shaking hands with as many of the 200-plus guests as she could, thanking them for their work.
She is not expected to carry out any major public celebrations to mark her Aug 15 birthday, having asked to use the occasion to focus solely on the work of her patronages.
Colonel John Boyd, the Princess's private secretary, welcomed the charity representatives to the palace ballroom, telling them: 'There has been a significant amount of interest in HRH's 75th birthday celebrations.
'As you are aware, the Princess has given decades of time and support to more than 400 charities and patronages.'
He added: 'It probably won't come as a surprise, given HRH's commitment to you all, that the way the Princess wants to celebrate this milestone is to replicate what she's done on previous significant birthdays and hold this charities forum again to once again understand how she can help you, at a time when the third sector is facing unprecedented challenges and transformations.'
The forum was followed by a private reception in the Picture Gallery, with music provided by members of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, another of the Princess's patronages.
A palace source said: 'This personifies what Her Royal Highness cares about. She didn't want to do anything for her birthday but bring her charities together to hear more about their work and how she can help them.'
The Princess is regularly named the hardest-working royal, carrying out more public engagements than any of her family members, with little attention or fanfare.
She was typically self-effacing as she addressed guests from more than 111 organisations gathered at the palace last Thursday.
'I'm not here because this was my choice,' she said.
'You very kindly asked me to become patron of your organisations, so it's an honour for me to have all of you here.'
She also spoke about 'the pleasure I get from visiting and finding out a bit more about what you do'.
'The responsibility and respect that you give to your own organisations and the people who work for you and your beneficiaries is perhaps the key to what makes you so important,' she said.
'Respect and responsibility. Thank you very much for doing what you do.'
The Princess thanked her brother, the King, for use of the palace, adding: 'I would just like to make the point that we are very fortunate that His Majesty has allowed us to use Buckingham Palace for this event tonight – and I need say that – it does help.'
'Quite extraordinary'
The event was arranged to discuss topics such as the challenges facing the charity sector, public trust in charities and the opportunities and risks presented to the third sector by new technologies.
Speakers included Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of healthcare think tank The King's Fund, David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, and Zoe Amar, founder and director of Zoe Amar Digital, which helps charities develop AI strategies.
Their presentations were followed by a Q&A session led by Prof Lynne Berry, chair of the Human Tissue Authority, who told the Princess: 'Your Royal Highness, you've had many great ideas over the years, but this, the Princess Royal's Charities Forum, is one of the best.
'Your leadership ... and encouragement to a group of charities that range in size, in location, in purpose, is quite extraordinary.'
Among the charities invited were two of her most longstanding patronages, Save the Children, of which she became patron in 1970, and Riding for the Disabled, which she joined in 1971.
Some of her newer charities that were represented included Friends of the Elderly and Royal Star and Garter Homes – both former patronages of Elizabeth II – and the Naval Children's Charity, formerly a patronage of the Duke of York.
The Princess's 70th birthday fell during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 but she managed to enjoy a sailing trip around Scotland with Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, her husband. She also sent out a new portrait to well-wishers, taken by John Swannell, a trusted society photographer, who also pictured the Princess on her 40th, 50th and 60th birthdays.
When she turned 60, she joined family members on a 10-day cruise around the Outer Hebrides, which a friend said she would have spent happily spotting lighthouses. A palace garden party was also held in honour of her charities and she chose to give her birthday interview to the BBC's Inside Sport.
Her 50th, in 2000, was marked privately with her family at Balmoral, in Scotland. It followed a lavish ball held that June at Windsor Castle, held to celebrate a series of royal birthdays, including the Queen Mother's 100th, Prince Andrew's 40th, Princess Margaret's 70th and Prince William's 18th.
In a tribute to her daughter's charity work, the late Queen Elizabeth II also held a reception for more than 600 representatives of the charities, regiments and organisations with which she was involved.
The glamorous portrait by Mr Swannell, released for her 40th birthday in 1990, came just days after the Princess was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Save the Children.
Later that year, Elizabeth II held a ball called 'the dance of the decades' to mark the array of royal birthday milestones.