Princess Anne's miletone birthday marked with new portrait and praise for 'wicked wit'

Daily Record

3 days ago

The picture sees the Princess Royal and husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence smiling into the camera ahead of the key event
A new photograph has been released to mark a milestone birthday for Princess Anne. The Princess Royal will turn 75 on August 15 with the picture heralding the start of the festivities.
‌
Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were pictured on the night of a Windsor Castle state banquet, held by the King in July in honour of France's President Emmanuel Macron who was making a state visit to the UK at the time. She is shown wearing her banquet gown and regalia, Order of the Garter Sash and Star, Order of the Thistle Star, King's Family Order and Royal Family Order from Queen Elizabeth II.
‌
Ahead of her birthday next week, the princess has been hailed for her non-political royal soft power and 'amazing' stamina during her decades of duty. Charity leaders who work closely with the royal revealed she cares deeply about the state of Britain amid the current climate of challenges facing the world.
‌
She has long been dubbed "the hardest-working royal" and she is said to be doing more than ever rather than slowing her pace. She has, those who know her recounted in celebration of her birthday, a 'wicked wit', a practical approach to problems, and a flair for 'not always agreeing' with what they say.
Save The Children UK chief executive Moazzam Malik said: 'Obviously, as a royal, she's not a political figure, but her soft support for us is very inspiring for us as an organisation and for our collaborators and partners. She's very low key. She's self-effacing.
‌
'She doesn't want to kind of take the limelight, but she's very committed … You can see that she cares about the state of Britain and the state of the world. There's a lot of challenges for us as a country, and indeed, a lot of challenges for children at a time of great geopolitical challenge. And she cares.'
Anne has been involved with Save the Children UK for 55 years, first becoming its president in 1970 in her first ever charity role in the year she turned 20, then as patron from 2017, taking over from her mother Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Malik said the princess had met some 27,000 of the organisation's supporters and helped raise tens of millions of pounds over the years.
She spends a large amount of time visiting Save The Children's projects in the UK where one in three children are growing up in relative poverty, and overseas, having travelled to countries such as Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with one in 11 children globally in need of humanitarian assistance, he said. Mr Malik added: 'She's one of our chief supporters, and it's great to have somebody like that you know who will keep nudging you forward.'
‌
Tanya Curry, chief executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of which Anne became patron in 2008, suggested the princess had increased her workload ahead of turning 75. She said: "I think she's probably done a lot more for us actually, and the kind of stamina that she brings to that, mentally and physically, is amazing.
'She's working incredibly hard, and she positions the royal family in such a great way that people really understand and really can see the work that she's doing.'
‌
Anne is a key member of her brother, King Charles' slimmed-down working monarchy. She was key when she stepped up in support of Charles following his cancer diagnosis.
In June 2024, she was rushed to intensive care after she was believed to have been struck by a horse on her Gatcombe Park estate. But the princess, who was back at royal duties less than three weeks later, revealed she has no memory of the incident but now views every day as a 'bonus'.
Michael Baker, chief executive of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), said Anne, who has been involved with the organisation since 1971, was keen to attend its national championships for her first engagement after her hospital stay. He said: "She wanted to be there and come what may she was going to be with us, and that was so powerful because it was clearly a determined effort to be there as the first visit back."
‌
He said she had "great wicked wit", adding: 'She's the first person to put everyone at ease with a quick one-liner or something that really gets to the heart of something.'
The princess supports more than 300 charities and organisations, and earlier this year brought many of them together at a special Buckingham Palace forum, insisting this was the only way she wished to mark her forthcoming 75th birthday.
Lord Kakkar, chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 of which Anne is president, highlighted the princess's practical approach and likened her to her father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, for her ability to talk in depth about science, engineering and technology.
‌
He said the princess was 'very deeply committed' to the commission's values in order to have a 'profound impact on the lives of people in our country', and around the world. The commission, set up by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert at the time of the Great Exhibition, awards around 35 postgraduate fellowships and scholarships a year for advanced research in science, engineering, the built environment and design.
Lord Kakkar said of Albert's vision: 'Her Royal Highness is very, very deeply committed and that is really, ultimately, doing all of this so it has a profound impact on the lives of people in our country, throughout the Commonwealth, indeed, throughout the world.'
The princess, known for her forthright manner, does not always agree with other people's conclusions, he suggested. 'That is very much the approach that (the Duke of Edinburgh) took and that Her Royal Highness takes, to be interested,' Lord Kakkar added.
'What one sees in the conversations is a genuine fascination and interest in the issues, not always agreeing with the conclusions, but always being able to, with that demonstration of having prepared properly, having thought carefully, being able to engage in a meaningful conversation.'