Princess Anne makes rare comment about surprising HGV licence in unearthed interview
Aside from carrying out key royal engagements, Princess Anne is a royal fan favourite thanks to her outdoorsy lifestyle and penchant for animals.
She was the first member of the royal family to have competed in the Olympics Games at the 1976 Montreal Games and is also known for raising an array of dogs, chickens, sheep and cattle at her rambling Gatcombe Park estate.
But did you know that King Charles's sister boasts a rather unusual qualification that no doubt comes in handy when she's making changes to her family's working farm?
As per the royal family's official website, the keen equestrian has a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) licence, which according to , she's held since 1974. To top it all off, she also became the first royal to add the qualification to her repertoire of skills.
She spoke about her rare skill back in 1985 during a BBC interview with Terry Wogan. When asked what she could do if the monarchy was ever abolished, Anne revealed that she'd have to work "even harder on the farm," before adding: "Out of necessity, I qualified as a heavy goods vehicle driver, on the basis of if one didn't have a farm to work on or there was no other alternative, both my husband and I have heavy goods vehicle licenses."
The mother-of-two continued: "His is a HGV one and mine is a HGV three so it seemed like a very logical way of earning one's living. There is in fact quite a demand for good horse box drivers, we know one end of a horse from another, we thought we could probably crack that one between us."
Anne's family farm is located at her sprawling Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire. The estate boasts a whopping 730 acres and is home to several rare breeds of cattle, sheep and pigs.
Indeed, according to the royal family's website, the farm is home to 230 Wiltshire horn ewes, 14 white park cows, six Highland cows and two Gloucester Old Spot sows. During a 2014 interview, Anne spoke to BBC show Countryfile about the running of her family's farm.
"Being able to take on a place like this – for me, I've got to make it work," she said.
"This is not something that comes free, this has got to pay its way, otherwise I can't stay here."
Anne has previously spoken about backing genetically modified crops and livestock, saying that having GM livestock on her farm "would be a bonus." During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today programme in 2017, she said: "GM is one of those things that divides people but surely if we are going to be better at producing food of the right value, then we have to accept that genetic technology is going to be part of that."
Reflecting on GM animals, she continued: "I have rare breeds of livestock, so genetic modification would be a bonus, if I could just find a way of making them a little more robust in terms of survivability."
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