Queen Elizabeth II’s steely only daughter Princess Anne rarely lets her emotions show but the grief has been etched on her face since her mother’s death.
With her elder brother King Charles III called to London, it was left to the queen’s second child to accompany the cortege through Scotland from Balmoral on Sunday.
Dressed in mourning black, she curtseyed as eight kilted soldiers carried the heavy lead-lined casket into the monarch’s official Scottish residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh.
Her sister-in-law Sophie, who is married to her younger brother Prince Edward, was seen placing a comforting hand on her back afterwards.
On Monday, Anne, 72, dressed in the ceremonial uniform of a Royal Navy admiral, walked alongside Charles, Edward and their brother Andrew as the coffin was borne from Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral.
She will also accompany the queen’s coffin on the flight back to London from Edinburgh on Tuesday.
Anne’s role may now change depending on whether Charles pursues a slimmed-down monarchy. But he may find his closest sibling a rock of support as he adjusts to his new role.
– Learning the hard way –
Anne has earned a reputation as the hardest-working royal, squeezing in a career as an Olympic horse rider alongside a lifetime of public engagements.
Cast much in the same plain-speaking mould as her late father Prince Philip, Anne is reported to have once described herself as “not everyone’s idea of a fairy-tale princess”.
“You learn the hard way,” she said. “There isn’t a school for royalty.”
She never sought to please the press, saying she did not “do stunts” and once told photographers to “naff off”.
Anne has carved her own path through the old-world royalty of her parents and embraced more modern ways for her own children.
She has also won respect for her work to support hundreds of charities and organisations.
In 1974, she was the target of a kidnap attempt when her car was ambushed. Two police officers, her chauffeur and a passer-by were shot and wounded.
An account released by the National Archives said assailant Ian Ball pointed his gun at Anne and said: “I want you to come with me for a day or two, because I want £2 million.
“Will you get out of the car?”
The princess replied curtly: “Not bloody likely — and I haven’t got £2 million.”
Anne stuck to a mixture of classic chic and casual, keeping her voluminous, up-do hair style throughout her adult life.
She adopted a business-like demeanour that sometimes meant she came across as frosty, and resulted in her sharp, dry sense of humour often being mistaken.
– Gifted horse rider –
Born on August 15, 1950, Anne was taught at Buckingham Palace before beginning boarding school in 1963.
She inherited her mother’s passion for horses and the young princess became a skilled equestrian.
Anne won the 1971 European Eventing Championship and the British public voted her that year’s BBC Sports Personality of…
