She never wanted to be a fairy-tale princess.
Downloaded from YTS.MX
As a member of the royal family,
females were tended to be treated as honorary men.
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
She loves driving the tanks and firing the guns.
As the Princess Royal prepares for her 70th birthday,
we've had unique access
to her family...
and her world.
Daughter.
Good morning. At Windsor.
Wife.
Any husband who makes a comment on his wife's fashion style
is a very brave or risky man.
Mother. It's unbelievable,
the information that's stored in her brain.
It is quite annoying as well. It is quite annoying, yes.
And grandmother.
I've offered to try and do some home schooling.
I haven't seen hide nor hair of them at that suggestion.
We hear from old friends
with memories of the young princess...
She was more determined than most, more competitive than most.
..see how she planned her own education...
I did volunteer to go to school, I have to say.
..became a trendsetting It Girl...
Vogue cover is for extraordinary women.
..and dedicated herself to a life of service,
becoming one of the hardest-working royals.
She was lovely.
She really does hold a conversation with you.
Does anyone ever try to tell her to slow down a bit?
I mean, good luck.
She's in the public eye,
but has managed to stay intensely private.
Anne doesn't crave the limelight.
She probably had her fill of being in the newspapers
when she was young.
Being royal in the media age can be tough.
Anne was a pioneer.
The pressure that is applied to the younger members of the family
is hard sometimes to deal with.
The Princess Royal has always gone her own way.
The first royal Olympian.
It is probably the most dangerous sport on the planet.
As fearless in the saddle...
Good evening. Shots have been fired at Princess Anne...
..as in the face of a kidnapper.
I had thought about it before that, "What would you do if...?"
Now in close-up, Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise,
the Princess Royal as we've never seen her before.
I'm like a goldfish in a bowl here.
There he goes. Hello, big boy.
Summer, 2020.
And, like the rest of the country,
the Princess Royal is self-isolating at home.
In her case, Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire.
We have cattle and sheep here,
partly because, environmentally, you're better off
if you share the feeding...
Actually, the fertilising as well.
Thank you, dear.
In any other summer, Gatcombe would be hosting
the Festival of British Eventing.
A sport where horses and riders
undergo timed trials.
APPLAUSE
Princess Anne has been the royal face of the sport
for 50 years.
The festival is informal,
a chance for the public to see her up close.
The princess' children,
Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips,
live locally.
Their children are on hand to help out their grandmother.
She loves seeing them ride. She loves having them round
for Sunday lunches and taking them for walks,
and doing all the stuff that we used to do as kids,
she now takes them to do those sorts of things.
We quite like leaving them on Sundays.
We say, "We'll pick them up later. See you, then."
And they are off racing. Off they go.
Round the outside, number six.
He is going quite a storm on the outside there.
The festival is a family affair.
But this year, COVID-19 changed that.
Once it was legal for her grandchildren to approach,
the princess was ready to play schoolmarm.
They've got ponies and they come over and they can ride here.
But they are...
They face the same challenges as everybody else
in terms of home schooling.
And I think that is a challenge wherever you are.
I've offered to try and do some outdoor learning,
but so far it hasn't been taken up on.
When I was small, we had to pick things and then press them.
And identify them. I don't think anybody does that any more.
And I was thinking, you know,
it might be a good idea if we started doing that again.
Haven't seen hide nor hair of them at that suggestion.
It's the longest time I've ever spent at Gatcombe
in the 40-odd years we've been here.
It's frustrating, I think,
but look around, it's not hard here.
The idea of being stuck in a block of flats
with small children and...
I can't imagine how difficult that would be.
For five decades, she's been used to a packed work schedule.
The Princess Royal didn't expect to spend her 70th year
down on the farm.
Working from home has been a challenge.
Husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence
has seen the frustration.
Almost everything that she does
in a public way involves people coming together
to meet her
for some reason or another.
So that's been extremely difficult.
The charity work is constant.
'It's Tom here. I'm just going to introduce Her Majesty The Queen.'
But country broadband isn't.
These aren't your average conference calls either.
Good morning.
At Windsor.
Good morning. I'm very glad to have been able to join you.
Can you see everybody?
You should have six people on your screen.
Yes. Well, I can see four, anyway.
Actually, you don't need me. You know what I look like.
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.
That's a slightly different issue.
So I do feel pretty useless stuck here
in relative terms to what I think I should be doing.
Whatever the new normal brings,
the old normal was a life of duty.
Seasons marked by state events at Buckingham Palace,
evenings filled with charity dinners
and speeches.
Most mornings involve an early start
even before the transport arrives.
The princess has a daily schedule
of public appearances.
Today, they are all over Kent.
She is very hard-working.
She is the busiest member of the royal family,
regularly carrying out over 500 engagements a year.
Away days, each of those will probably be different.
Different reasons for going. Many are for voluntary organisations.
And if you can do anything to raise their profile,
then you will have achieved something.
You are reflecting Her Majesty's position.
But most of the time, you are, I think, in my case,
just trying to cover the bits of the country
that most other people won't get to.
WOMAN: Huxley, come and practise your bow.
Mummy practise her curtsy, then? Ready?
There we are. See, it's good, isn't it?
That's my curtsy. Is that right? What do you do with your hands?
Today, the first organisation is English Rural.
Near Ashford,
villagers are getting ready for the royal opening
of some new homes.
Princess Anne is coming to visit my house.
I'm a bit nervous, with two young boys.
But there you go. No, it's very exciting.
I hear she's quite a country girl like me.
We have to send her programmes, her briefs,
her speeches, and God help me if there was something missing.
She would read with a really sharp eye.
And I remember once, I've never forgotten it,
she said, "Private Secretary, what normally comes after 16?"
And I knew then that page 17 of the brief was missing.
The organisation has back stories
that are quite useful to know.
So that's either length of time, people involved,
impact of what it does.
She's like a sponge. It's unbelievable
the information that's stored in her brain.
It's incredible. It's quite annoying as well.
It is quite annoying, yes.
Had to wait a bit, haven't you? Yes.
I first registered an interest about a year and a half
or two years ago.
But we're very happy here.
Did you help with the decorating? Huxley?
Did you help with the decorating? The princess is talking to you.
Oh, he's being really bashful.
Your Royal Highness.
The first unveiling of the day done.
Then it's back to the helicopter.
At Maidstone Hospital,
a new helipad needs opening.
We've got about 200 people here. I don't suppose
she'll be able to say hello to every single one of those,
but anybody she can say hello to, I know they'll really appreciate it.
Oh, look, she's coming.
Sometimes people react in the most extraordinary ways.
They get completely overawed
being in front of a princess.
And thoroughly overdo the curtsies
or the bows or don't do it at all.
Or practically shake her hand off,
which can happen.
You don't literally work your way through the crowd,
that's usually left up to other people.
In some ways, it would be just as much fun
if you did it all by yourself, but it would be a bit chaotic.
Although Holyrood, at the Garden Party,
I used to work up the back of the border,
which is where the people who didn't want to be seen went.
That was my... They were almost pretending they weren't there,
so engaging them in conversation...
They were always looking around, "I'm not really here.
"I don't really want to talk to anyone."
And this is Lucia. Nice to meet you.
So, Lucia is the senior employee of the whole of the NHS,
93 years old.
Lucia now looks after the junior doctors on this site.
You know where they live is called a mess?
But actually it's very clean. It's not a mess at all, is it?
It's only because of her. It's only because of Lucia.
Very nice to meet you. Nice to see you.
The impact of a royal visit,
it's very hard to quantify,
but you get back into the car and you see people just beaming.
It's winter, two hours before sundown,
but the Princess Royal
is only halfway through her day's engagements.
I always reminded many of our colleagues
at the British Olympic Association
that while we've all sort of sauntered into
a board meeting at two o'clock that runs till five,
she's probably opened five hospitals
by the time that she's even had lunch.
Does anyone ever try to tell her to slow down a bit?
Er... I mean, good luck.
We would try, and, you know,
and then it would be a very short conversation.
At Gillingham, there are hospital building works to inspect
and staff at the Maternity Unit of the Year to congratulate.
..to events and then coming here. It's amazing.
And I know how demanding it is.
So, really, my hat off to her.
She's a remarkably hard-working woman.
I haven't done a curtsy since I did ballet.
I'm just gonna have to do a little bob.
Three, two, one.
Here she comes.
She's got so much more energy than anybody that I know who's 70.
Well, apart from various members of our family.
But she's certainly...
She certainly doesn't act it.
Age is not a thing to her.
It's very much, the more she keeps doing,
the younger she'll stay.
She always says she doesn't have very good role models
for slowing down. No, that's true.
I do remember,
a day the princess must've met a thousand people
on four or five engagements, and I remember thinking,
"I'm absolutely wrecked" at the end of the day.
She was still
giving everybody the attention
she gave at the beginning of the day.
Ma'am, if I could introduce Laura and Chris.
And their new baby, Oliver. Nice to see you.
You work here, do you? Yeah.
This is Laura's third baby.
CHRIS: Early Christmas present, I think.
You don't need to wrap it up, OK?
Have a very good Christmas.
You, too.
The princess is scheduled to land at Kensington Palace helipad
at just after four o'clock.
A cup of tea, a change of clothes,
and then she'll be off to a charity dinner.
There may be a change to a formal thing, a ball gown,
or cocktail dress, and she's so adept
at chopping and changing.
I've not quite mastered the art myself.
The Princess Royal's presence is requested
at charity dinners most nights of the week.
She has one golden rule.
I'm very jealous. The princess doesn't drink at all.
It is a busy day for her.
She does start early and then doesn't really finish
until nine o'clock at night, maybe.
If it's after a dinner, quite a lot later.
ZARA: I always remember when we were living at Gatcombe
that she would come home from engagements
and she would be in exactly what she was wearing
and her make-up on and stuff. Put her welly boots on,
her jacket on,
and then she walks up and goes to do her chickens and get her eggs.
Sitting still really doesn't happen very much.
Sometimes, of course, it's unavoidable.
I'm thinking, how could you possibly take that long?
Princess Anne has got quite a lot of character in her face.
Sculptor Frances Segelman Petchey is making a bust
to mark the princess' 70th birthday.
She's done most of the royal family.
She's coming for her second sitting.
I'd love her to have a tiara. I'm gonna try and persuade her today.
Good morning. It's lovely to meet you again. Thank you for coming.
I did this sculpture of your mother in 2008. 2008?
Your father in 2000. Boris.
Hm. The hairdo is tricky. LAUGHS
The princess must now be centre of attention,
not something she enjoys.
Caroline Nunnerley is a lady-in-waiting.
Her job? Anticipating the boss's needs.
Right now, it's probably escape.
I'm like a goldfish in a bowl here.
Frances bravely tries the "T" word.
So, we were going to talk about the tiara. Were we?
Yeah. I thought I'd said no.
I know, but I just think it would look so fabulous if you did.
Yeah, but I've only got little tiny tiaras that are not really worth it.
It would just make it so nice. We could think about it again.
Yeah? If you do wear a tiara, will the back still be the same?
To be honest, if I'm, if I'm wearing a tiara,
I do my hair differently. It's probably a no.
But there is another type of crown to discuss.
I want people to like us, to feel that they know us. Huh!
I know you value your privacy,
but I think there's a lot about you
that they would like if they, if they got a chance.
The fact that you're generally... you're good value for money.
Like a pair of long-lasting boots.
Actually, I read an article the other day about the...
I don't watch Netflix and The Crown but... No.
..the actress was talking about how long it took them
to do their hair like I did.
Really? And I'm thinking, "How could you possibly take that long?"
I mean, it takes me ten or 15 minutes.
You do it yourself? Do you do it yourself?
Because it's so much quicker.
And the idea that they're taking that long...
Don't you think I did that every day?
I don't think so. How amazing.
The early ones were quite interesting.
When your mum was young.
Making a series about people who are still living
is always quite a dangerous thing to do.
The television princess wasn't interested in celebrity.
Not unlike the real one.
She's not a person that is constantly looking for praise.
She gets on and does her work, er, regardless,
because she thinks it's important.
Anne doesn't crave the limelight.
She probably had her fill of being in the newspapers
when she was young.
So there's a lot of things that she does under the radar.
There were no tears when Princess Anne
was first captured on film, in September 1950.
NEWSREADER: It's an occasion when we would all wish
to share their joy and pride.
Anne was a new princess for a new age - the media age.
She grew up surrounded by cameras, in public and at home.
Both the princess' parents were keen home filmmakers.
When he was six, the Earl of Caithness
was invited to Balmoral play dates with the five-year-old princess.
I was very fortunate to know Princess Anne.
She was always a lot of fun.
She was a very determined person.
She was not gonna get beaten by a situation or by somebody.
And if somebody could do something, she could do it, too.
She was a very imaginative child,
and curious about everything that happened.
So she was curious about the environment.
And, of course, the Duke was very keen on the environment.
So he was passing that knowledge and interest onto his children, too.
She also was, er, brought up by her father to sail in dinghies
and developed a love of sailing.
Almost her earliest memory is going on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.
The Duke of Edinburgh just got on with things.
Didn't suffer fools gladly.
And I think it's fair to say that, that...
that the princess has many of her father's characteristics.
The Duke of Edinburgh's home movies capture determination,
and perhaps more, in the child who would become the Princess Royal.
She was more determined than most, more competitive than most.
And that was a lovely streak in her.
Anne and her brother Charles were first educated together,
at Buckingham Palace by Miss Catherine Peebles.
Schooldays was governess-driven,
so the range of what you can do is quite limited.
My basic skills were OK.
Erm, but we won't go further than that,
and I did more French than most people did.
But no maths. And no Latin.
NEWSREADER: A new term at Benenden School...
When she was 12, Anne took the initiative and asked her mother
if she could go to school outside the Palace.
The first princess to do so.
I did volunteer to go to school, I have to say. And I was thrilled.
School was much more interesting.
NEWSREADER: Now she'll live and learn with 300 other girls
and be treated, at the Queen's request,
exactly the same as any other girl.
This was a new experience,
the first time she'd mixed with large groups of other children.
Did you feel you were treated like one of the girls, almost?
You'd have to ask the other girls that.
I thought so. LAUGHS
One of them was classmate Sandra Hacking,
already part of a tight friendship group.
For six years, they'd share the princess' hopes,
dreams and secrets.
We were given encouragement to be as natural as possible
with, with the princess.
The perception was that the princess might be quite shy,
but we had this group of friends, and the princess, erm,
just popped up and joined in.
For me, of course, it was education at a different level.
And the fact that you were doing it with a group of people,
I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it.
And I got on very well with our, er, headmistress, Miss EB Clarke.
But most people were terrified of her.
We used to have quite interesting conversations
and she was fascinating. Didn't happen all that often,
but I was always intrigued by what people were so frightened of.
Perhaps the head was on best behaviour
with a pupil who had her own policeman.
There was a really lovely security officer,
and we did lead him a bit of a dance.
It was rather fun to, erm, break out of school
and go to the fish and chip shop.
And trying to escape this loyal detective
who was supposed to be looking after her.
And erm, anyway, we did that a few times.
She was a very normal, er, teenager. She was sensible and fun.
Scotland Yard had help.
Anne's classmates also kept an eye on her.
There was possibly a general instruction
not to talk to the press.
The paparazzi did exist then.
I don't recall intrusion at school,
but on the public road, they were quite keen to photograph her.
So there was a sense of looking after her.
After A Levels, many went on to further education.
The princess went into the family business.
So many of my contemporaries,
when asked why they were going to university
would say, basically, cos that's what you do.
And I'm thinking, really?
That's not a very good reason for going to university.
So I thought I'd skip that.
But I also thought that I might have the opportunity
to travel with Her Majesty on her tours.
I did geography A Level so it, for me, it made more sense.
Shortly before her 19th birthday,
the princess joined her parents on a state visit to Austria.
It was the start of a lifelong career
representing the country abroad.
On early trips, the princess was learning the ropes.
People talk about, erm, being trained
to become a member of the royal family.
Erm, I'm sorry to disappoint you,
there is no such thing, it's just learning by experience.
Hardly ever does anything go quite according to plan,
you have to learn that.
One that sticks in my mind about going up in lifts.
There was the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
and the lady-in-waiting and me.
I think we were all dressed for quite a smart do somewhere.
And we went from the ground floor,
we were only supposed to be going two storeys.
And it went up to about the 19th floor, and this chap got in thinking
he was going for a, you know, a spa treatment.
He was... slightly surprised. LAUGHS
In Australia in 1970,
the princess tried out a new approach to royal visits
that Fleet Street dubbed "the walkabout".
I picked a young woman who I thought was, sort of, my age,
and she looked at me and she said, "We've met before."
And I'd never been to Australia before,
never done a walkabout before,
and I thought, "Don't be ridiculous."
And she said, "I was the floor maid in Malta when you came."
So you learn. LAUGHS
This is a small world.
At the time Princess Anne came of age,
whatever the young did was news.
And whatever young royals did was big news.
Today, they're celebrities, like it or not.
But Anne was the pioneer.
The pressure that is, erm, applied to the younger members of the family
is always worse, because that's what the media is interested in,
and that's, er, you know, hard sometimes to deal with.
But there was no social media in my day.
So it probably has made it more difficult.
I know there are lots of younger royals who are very glamorous,
but she was a very modern princess.
NEWSREADER: In the relatively short time
that Anne has been a grown-up, fashion-conscious young lady,
she's made herself a name for her choice of hats.
She was actually rather glamorous, the long hair.
And she was very much of her time.
She's the first princess to wear a miniskirt.
Different looks go in and out of fashion.
She's not ahead of it, but she's definitely in there.
And she was on the cover.
For her 21st birthday, there was a landmark portrait.
Well, to be on the cover of Vogue in 1971,
I mean, Vogue cover is for extraordinary women.
And she was very much her own person.
Not her mother or her, her aunts.
Princess Anne hit Planet Fashion for six.
Her public wardrobe was bold and blocky.
She favoured bright colours and big hats.
She was actually really fashionable as a young woman.
And she's, sort of, her own person within those parameters.
The princess turned her visibility to good use,
backing the textile and fashion industries.
Tonight, she's at London Fashion Week to present a design award.
So, the princess has been our president since 1985.
In the '60s and '70s,
she was known for her very lively interest in fashion.
The princess has an eye. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me saying
that she has her preferences on colours.
I mean, we see green quite a lot. Natural colours.
In the '80s, she, she started to wear, on public occasions, the suit.
Of course, emblematic of the working woman.
She also wears those suits again and again, as a normal woman would.
That's made her be recently hailed as an icon of sustainability.
I'm probably the very last person to make any comment about fashion.
Er, and any husband who makes a comment on, on his wife's, er,
fashion style is, is, is a, is a very brave or risky man.
What I would say is that she has developed a style of her own,
and, and she sticks to it.
She's not driven by others
to do something that doesn't suit her.
MUSIC: 'Get It On' by T.Rex
Back in the 1970s, if the world's most eligible princess
was seen anywhere near a bachelor, it made for banner headlines.
Captain Mark Phillips was a rising star in the equestrian world.
He met his princess at an Olympic party in 1968.
Three years later, the press got their story.
NEWSREADER: After weeks of rumour, speculation and denials,
finally, it's official.
Neither the princess nor her fiance wanted the attention,
but their celebrity fuelled royal wedding fever.
In November 1973, the ceremony was a major television event.
There had never been anything like it
in terms of television spectacle, probably since the coronation,
which was on tiny black and white sets.
500 million people watched around the world.
With this ring, I thee wed. With this ring, I thee wed.
The wedding made the princess and her new husband
the most famous couple on Earth.
It also made them targets.
Good evening. Shots have been fired
at Princess Anne and Captain Phillips.
At least five shots were fired at their car
and the bullets shattered the windows.
Four months after her dazzling wedding,
Princess Anne was the target of would-be kidnapper Ian Ball.
What is interesting is what you remember and how you remember it.
Cos although I thought I remembered everything that had happened,
I would never have been able to swear
that I could remember them in the right order.
Because they were like photos. Individual snapshots. Very clearly.
In March 1974, the royal car was returning from a charity event,
when Ball forced it to stop.
The Mall is completely closed off here tonight.
Now, a gunman got out
and fired several shots through the windscreen.
When Protection Officer Jim Beaton confronted him,
he was shot in the shoulder.
There was a couple of short cracks.
I took my pistol, lifted it up and fired it in his direction,
but nothing happened. And it obviously had jammed.
And I managed to get into the car,
and there was Ian Ball with his gun.
So I just stuck up my right hand in front of it and he fired.
Erm... and it went through the window, obviously, and into my hand.
The driver and Princess Anne's bodyguard were hurt.
Then a policeman on duty ran up.
He was turned on by the gunman and shot at, at point-blank range.
Strangely, I had thought about it before that.
What would you do if?
One thing about horses and sport
is you have to prepare for the unexpected
and you've gotta think your way
through the sort of problems that are likely to occur.
And I suppose that was the discipline which...
to some extent coloured my thought processes.
The princess tried to talk the gunman down,
insisting she would not leave the car.
I remember, she said to me,
"I was so annoyed that he'd tore the sleeve out of my dress,"
she said, and it was a good new dress.
Before he was overpowered, Ball shot and wounded four people.
They were all given medals by a grateful Queen.
Princess Anne, because she was so cool, calm and collected,
I think it kept the situation within control.
Three years later came the birth of a son, Peter.
And in 1981, baby Zara.
Their mother decided her children should be plain Mr and Miss.
Stunning pictures of her in here.
We were always brought up...
on the understanding that we were gonna have to go to work.
We were gonna have to go out and earn our, earn our living.
Regardless of the fact of who our grandmother was
or who our mother was.
I think it made us fight harder as well,
to try and be as successful as we could be.
Erm, so I definitely, you know, we're very grateful to her
not giving us a title, anyway. LAUGHS
As a member of the royal family,
living with that sort of pressure is hard,
and the expectations that come with it is hard.
And that might have been at the bottom of the list,
that it may be less difficult for you.
But actually, understanding where they sit within the family
and what happens next, it made much more sense.
Peter and Zara both live with their families
close to Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire.
It was where they grew up, a haven for them and their mother.
It was her, her sanctuary, if you like.
But when you're working you also, erm,
want to be able to then go home and, you know, be, be a mother.
You know, she was taking us out,
you know, onto the farm and helping out on the farm,
helping with the lambing and all that sort of stuff.
They didn't give them titles,
but Princess Anne and Mark Phillips did give their children a leg-up...
into the saddle.
Captain Phillips was an Olympic gold-medallist
before he and Princess Anne were married.
For the whole family, horses were work, rest and play.
It was part of our lives. We didn't really know anything else.
We both started off with a little Shetland called Smoky.
When we went up to the stables to go and ride,
it was a working professional yard.
You know, both our parents were riding.
It was normal. Especially as our father won Olympic medals
and being hugely successful in the sport.
That was just life growing up.
But the marriage wasn't to last.
After 19 years, the couple were divorced.
Princess Anne then married naval commander Tim Laurence.
It's quite amusing that she married first an army officer
and then a naval officer,
so there must be something about the military that, that attracts her.
They met while the up and coming officer was an equerry,
or military assistant to the Queen.
After almost 30 years of marriage,
the Vice Admiral and the Princess Royal make a powerful team.
They both have the understanding of what being a part of the...
the wider family means and what is required.
And through the last 25 years, plus, that they've been together now,
it, it's, erm... he's been a very strong support for her.
Naturally, their interests coincide.
The Trafalgar Dinner's an annual naval tradition
and an enjoyable date for both of them.
There's a shared love of history, duty and much more besides.
We are both map and chart people.
We like to know where we are and see where we're going.
For more than three decades,
Sir Tim has been able to observe the royal family close up.
Similarities with her father are much talked about.
What is less spoken about
is the similarities with her mother, the Queen.
The, er, the common theme is humour, fun.
One of the great surprises for me when I first went to Balmoral
and to Sandringham and Windsor
was that these places are full of laughter.
The love of sport is another bond.
We both follow, with great enthusiasm, the Scottish rugby team.
As you may have noticed, they don't always win.
There is one area where the couple don't see eye to eye.
She grew up with horses. Horses have been part of her life.
It's not something I share with her and, sadly,
I've never been bitten by the horse bug.
At Gatcombe, that bug draws the crowds
to the Festival of British Eventing.
Jane Holderness-Roddam is a lady-in-waiting to the princess,
and a former Olympic gold-medallist.
They first met riding as children.
Even at nine years old or ten years old, you know,
when she appeared, she had great presence.
She never pushed herself forward, but she just, you know,
you knew she was there, sort of thing.
I started to compete.
There was an acceptance that I'd give that a try and see how it went.
And then that was more successful than I thought I was going to be.
Well, she was obviously very competitive
and she had an amazing affinity with her horses.
You know, her and Doublet were a, just a real partnership,
they were a pleasure to watch.
At the age of 21, as a member of the British Eventing Team,
Princess Anne won gold at the 1971 European Eventing Championships.
APPLAUSE
Well, sport is a great leveller.
It has no respect for who you are and it, er...
it's a question of whether you succeed.
If you come first in a World Equestrian Games,
nobody can really accuse you of, of having extra favours
because you're a member of the royal family.
You've done it and it's a great thing to achieve.
Also in 1971, there was another trophy for the royal mantelpiece.
Just being selected with that group of sports people,
has to be a significant honour.
Especially from a, from the perspective of a sport
that doesn't get that level of profile. Mm.
It gives me great pleasure, Ma'am,
to present this Sports Personality Award of 1971.
It was a really important moment for Olympic sport when she won that.
Seeing off George Best at the same time was pretty much up there.
And, of course, Zara went on to win it, er, many, many years later.
Which section of the, er, three-day event do you enjoy best?
The end. LAUGHTER
It was a slightly novel, a novel entrance.
For everybody.
I was just amazed to be included.
But the Olympics were the pinnacle of the princess' career.
And brought even more attention to her sport.
REPORTER: The Queen was determined to see the tough, 17-mile
cross-country course that Princess Anne will find on Saturday.
I wasn't at the Olympics. I couldn't go.
So it was all on the television, what we saw.
And what I didn't know at the time was that she had this awful fall.
I was going very well.
And then I don't remember anything else.
But she got back on and competed.
She was that concussed that she couldn't remember,
and, still to this day, I believe,
doesn't remember the rest of the course.
REPORTER: Nothing at all? Nothing at all, no.
It is probably the most dangerous sport on the planet.
I've watched a lot of three-day eventing.
Er, I, know the sort of, the competitive granite, er,
that those men and women are made from.
And she's absolutely hewn from that.
Her mantra for life is very much,
if you fall, get back up and try again.
Get up, carry on and mind your manners.
All that early exposure inspired the next generation.
Zara Phillips was a gold medallist with the British Eventing Team,
and was, for four years, World Champion.
In 2012, she won silver at the London Olympics.
Her mother presented the award.
To be given your medal by your mother is, is pretty special.
And you can't really ever explain that, that feeling.
She very much, you know, knows what it takes to achieve and to win.
Having the whole family come and watch was incredible as well.
All the cousins were there, weren't they? Mm.
It was a really, erm, special day, a special family day for, erm...
It's the only competition that everyone's watched me in but...
Well, if it's gonna be one, it's gonna be that one.
Was it very important that you beat your mother's record?
Hmm, no, but it was very important I beat my father's.
LAUGHTER
It was pointed out to me a while ago that, erm,
that I'm the only member of my direct family
not to have a gold medal.
Erm, but, erm, we've moved on from that.
SPEAKER: The International Olympic Committee...
It was her competitors' understanding of the Olympics
that made the princess a key player
in the bid to bring the Games to London in 2012.
London!
I really think the team have earned it.
They've done a fantastic job.
She was absolutely integral to our winning the, er,
bid for the Olympics in 2005.
Then did a huge job, er, with the British Olympic Association.
The Princess Royal was on the... the big committee,
and her contribution was seismic.
Er, and it was always to the point.
Erm, she doesn't always suffer fools, er, gladly.
She doesn't speak for the sake of speaking.
I do remember, after a rather long-winded, erm,
interjection by one of the, er, committee members,
she'd actually forgotten to turn her microphone off.
And she did manage to utter the immortal words,
"I think this person is probably the most stupid person in world sport."
Er, and this echoed absolutely around the room.
And she never flinched.
It was as though it never happened, and we just moved on.
But it is probably one of my favourite moments.
Not flinching is a speciality.
Even in the heat of battle.
In Estonia, the King's Royal Hussars are awaiting the princess,
their colonel-in-chief.
She's coming east to observe their manoeuvres
as part of a NATO battle group.
The first time I've driven a member of the royal family.
I'm buzzing, I'm really looking forward to it.
It's an honour to have a member of the royal family on our tank.
Tell the grandkids. THEY LAUGH
The monarchy is our guiding light, our moral compass.
Having someone like the Princess Royal, who stands for that family,
and she's the head of our family, is incredibly important.
She's hugely in admiration
of what the United Kingdom's military does for this country,
and she wants to support them.
It was really good.
She's interested in seeing variants of what we do.
It's really nice to see her come out and get amongst all the lads.
I think it's important that they recognise
that there is somebody from outside the military
who might understand what they're doing.
They are working very hard, so that's...
I hope what they feel is... is being achieved.
We all know her, and we've all felt that personal touch
that she brings.
And her ability to talk to everyone, er, of any rank,
of any age is something that we all love about her.
So, as Royal Engineers, we're setting up battlefield simulations
for the attack that's gonna happen.
The Challenger 2 is a hugely effective piece of equipment.
There are in-life upgrades going on at the moment.
There's always the technology to catch up on,
cos that's changing all the time.
It's quite a full-on environment. It's loud, it's noisy.
She loves going in any of her army vehicles.
She loves driving the tanks, firing the guns.
There's a huge amount going on.
I was impressed by actually how much she immediately understood.
Right in the middle, she got out her...
her phone and started filming, which is what people do today.
She doesn't stand above and beyond it, and she's terribly human.
At headquarters, the officers' mess is a shrine to their royal comrade.
As a member of the royal family,
females were tended to be treated as honorary men.
So, you know, they would become involved
in organisations that are otherwise men-only.
In 1969, the princess joined up.
Her first rank?
Colonel-in-chief of the 14th/20th Hussars, as they were then known.
That was almost the first thing that I did,
and they were in Germany then.
At the age of 19,
she was on exercise in a Chieftain tank named after her.
Just perfect for Trafalgar Square.
No. LAUGHS
That solves all your problems, really.
Oh, they're fantastic bits of kit.
Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Angus Tilney
is keeper of the regimental scrapbook.
We've got photos here of the Princess Royal
driving a Chieftain, er, with her headscarf on.
I'd make sure she had a helmet on if she did it today.
And firing the Sterling submachine gun.
Again, no ear defence in those days.
Erm, but certainly today, we'd make sure that she did!
LAUGHS
It'd be the end of me if I had the Princess Royal
shooting a Sterling submachinegun without ear defenders.
But she seems pretty easy with it.
She's actually the longest-serving member of the King's Royal Hussars.
It's a very long association.
I thought I'd got old when the son of the commanding officer,
who, when I met him, was in short pants in Germany,
became an officer in the regiment.
I thought I'd been there too long already.
We're into grandchildren, yeah. LAUGHS
When she was very young,
Princess Anne would join Prince Charles
watching the Queen at the grandest military ceremony of all.
It's among her first memories.
Well, the earliest ones were the Trooping of the Colour,
the Birthday Parade.
It was important training for Princess Anne
in the ceremonial role of the monarchy.
You were allowed to go quite early in your career.
That was much the earliest of the sort of ceremonial events
you were allowed to be part of.
State visits came much later.
For today's ceremony, the princess will ride behind the Queen
as a Royal Colonel.
Right, final polish and grooming.
You can get the other horse out now, chap.
Every year, Royal Stud Groom Terry Pendry
prepares the family's horses for the ceremony.
The Princess Royal, there we have her saddle.
She's a fine, fine horsewoman.
Passed on from her mother, her grandmother.
All the royal children, they learn to walk,
and straight after walking, they were learnt to ride.
And, of course, the Princess Royal just went from strength to strength.
I did compete against her.
On the odd occasion, I have beaten her.
But most of the time, I would have seen
her backside disappearing into...
She was a lot better than I'll ever be.
Right, saddles on.
I'm pretty certain they know they're going on parade.
George behind me certainly does.
Yeah, they do know, I'm certain of it.
Trooping the Colour is the most astonishing mixture
of pageantry,
military ceremonial horsemanship and horsewomanship.
But at the heart of it is this family.
And the family, of course, are on performance.
Anne, of course, does very well,
since she probably rides more than the others.
Trooping the Colour, it is absolutely crucial
in terms of what they do as members of that family.
For me, like, family occasions were all about
hanging out with our cousins and just having as much fun as possible.
You'd get a clip round the ear and say, "Right, behave yourself,"
you know, "We're going out on the balcony.
"Don't pick your nose," and, you know, "Don't yawn."
Today, the Princess Royal increasingly helps out the Queen,
and not just in military ceremonies.
She also takes a key role
in the most exciting civil event, the Investitures.
I didn't think I would ever be asked to do an Investiture.
It's a real pleasure. I'm delighted to be able to go on doing those.
These are all British Empire.
That's a CBE.
And then over there is the sword that the Princess Royal
will be using for the Investiture today.
The honours system is a wonderful way
of recognising individual people around the country
that makes this country great,
rather than, you know, big companies or politicians.
This is it.
Journalist Brenda Emmanus is to receive the OBE
for services to broadcasting and diversity.
READS: "Her Majesty the Queen may be graciously pleased
"to approve that you be appointed
"an Officer of the Order of the British Empire."
It's really quite amazing and quite humbling.
My mother was so proud.
It's the first time I've seen her genuinely bursting with pride.
Choosing what to wear took forever.
That's the coat.
But I'm not sure what the formality is,
whether you keep your coat on or take your coat off
when you go up to do your bit.
Go straight up the stairs.
Today, 65 recipients and their families
have travelled to Buckingham Palace.
Linda Longstaff has come from Sunderland to receive an MBE
for her work as a hospital chaplain.
Absolutely overwhelmed. What a day!
And to be with my husband and my two girls...
it's wonderful.
For most people, this will be their first contact with the royal family.
Brenda's mum has bought a new hat.
I feel very proud this morning.
Yes, I am.
Because of my daughter.
Coming to get this, it's quite a thing, actually,
it's starting to hit me.
The Princess Royal likes to spend a chunk of time
talking to each recipient. She's really good at it.
So, you know, we tailor the numbers accordingly.
She does her homework, with her staff, on each person
so that she knows their background story
and, er, will remember each one as they come up.
She's exceptional at it.
If you get in a position where you can see and hear
what I have to say, please.
It's my job to explain how an Investiture works.
Turn to face the Princess Royal, neck bow.
And from the ladies, and much better than I can do, it's a curtsey.
We're now moving forward towards the dais,
receive your award, conversation, hand shake.
Take it, shake it, let go... LAUGHTER
..and go back two or three paces.
Neck bow, or a curtsey,
turn to your right, and passing out in that direction.
People whinge about having an awards system.
But, actually, this one does work.
And, I think, on the whole, the decisions made have been good,
and they do reflect, I think, appropriately,
the important issues.
The system itself gets a bit of flack
because occasionally somebody controversial gets an honour,
but the award of an MBE to somebody who's been beavering away
for ten or 20 years, supporting some charitable cause
is a massively important part of our national life, I think.
This is absolutely the heart of what the monarchy does.
Because the princess has been going around the country
for 50 years-ish, she would give an MBE out to a health worker,
and the lady would say,
"I remember when you opened the General Hospital
"in North Allerton in 1980."
And then the conversation would go on from there.
Talking about, erm, we've met before.
That happens more in Investitures than I care to think.
And then often a bit of a challenge.
But there you go. LAUGHS
WHISPERS: She was lovely.
She really does hold a conversation with you.
Cos I was really worried what to say.
And she knows about you, as well.
She asked me I prefer being in front of the camera or behind.
She knew a lot about my artwork.
Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it?
Some of the palace authorities thought the Princess' Investitures
went on a bit too long.
But it gave enormous joy and pride to the recipients,
which, at the end of the day, is what it's all about.
The royal presence makes all the difference.
It's the electricity the Princess aims to bring
to the 300 charities she represents.
Hello. Hello.
And that was a preview of Princess Anne and me
on our Blue Peter Royal Safari.
The Princess Royal has spent 50 years
bringing the spotlight to the vast array of charities she represents.
It all began in 1970,
when she became president of Save The Children.
I don't know why they asked me cos, patently, as a 19-year-old,
erm, who'd done very little, that was quite a interesting risk.
The princess gets this wonderful new role.
Royal events before that, she'd maybe been, you know,
with her mother and father, or maybe with Prince Charles.
So this time, it was, you know, it was her film.
Do you like flying? Well, I wouldn't consider it
one of my favourite forms of transport.
Probably, that first interview was a little bit awkward,
because it was the first time she was doing it
and the first time I was doing it.
Once we got into Kenya, it became much more relaxed.
LION GROWLS Grrrrr!
She's very natural, she was very easy with the children.
I think she was enjoying the film, being there and being...
Let's face it, she was the centre of attention.
But she absolutely knew all about the Save The Children fund.
And she absolutely wasn't going to make any mistakes,
she'd done her homework.
She was in charge of Save The Children when I was a kid,
as far as I can remember.
I thought, "Who is this person who wants to save me
"and all other children?"
At the charity's London headquarters,
they're awaiting her arrival.
50 years after she joined them,
Her Royal Highness is still on the headed notepaper
and on the board.
I suppose it took me about ten years to work out
just how Save The Children... functioned.
So I didn't say much in ten years! SHE CHUCKLES
It was a good organisation to learn from,
because it... If you've got children involved,
it's about health, it's about education.
It links to all sorts of other things.
The princess has a really inquisitive mind,
er, and a huge knowledge across the workings of all her charities.
The great advantage of having the Princess Royal
sitting at your boardroom table
is that, when you have somebody
of that bandwidth of experience,
it allows you to make much better, and informed, decisions.
The princess delivers experience and exposure
to more than 300 charities and patronages.
It was the reason that, in 1987,
the Queen made her Princess Royal.
APPLAUSE
One of the things my father said was, you know,
"You'll be offered a whole lot of things."
And the big mistake that was made in the past
was just accepting anything that anybody asked you to do.
And he said, you know, "Just be a bit careful,
"and find something that either you're interested in,
"or you think you might be able to have an impact."
And, for me, that was the Riding for the Disabled Association.
No knowledge of disabilities, but some knowledge of ponies.
In June, the charity holds a weekend of competitions and displays.
It's a fixture in the princess' diary.
Her Royal Highness has been involved with Riding for the Disabled
for 50 years.
The fact that she's a horsewoman makes it much more authentic.
She's incredibly inspirational.
Afternoon. This is my horse, Seren.
Have you not competed yet? Not yet.
Well, horses are used as a great therapy in lots of organisations,
and the princess knows very much the therapeutic use of riding,
erm, to help both physical disabilities and mental.
The organisation has provided support
for 17-year-old showjumper Evie Toombes.
She hasn't let the complications of spina bifida
dent her Paralympic ambitions.
It's a wonderful association. It helps in so many ways.
Daisy recognises that my legs don't work very well
and I'm not very strong. She knows when I'm a bit weak,
and she can kind of look after me that bit more.
She's very special to me.
Horses make the world go round!
At least, for everyone here. SHE LAUGHS
I actually had to ask my sister,
"What is the correct way to address the princess?"
Oh, yeah. What is the correct way?
Do I say, "Ma'am," or, "Your Highness"?
Cos I was gonna say, "Her Royal Highness,
"the Princess Royal," or...?
WOMAN: This is Evie Toombes. Good afternoon, Ma'am. Nice to meet you.
She rides with Lincolnshire Wolds RDA. She's an amazing showjumper.
You competed this morning, didn't you?
Yeah, I do a lot of riding,
and I also visit primary schools to educate on hidden illnesses
and kind of spread the love for riding.
So, when did you start riding, yourself? How old were you?
I was about four years old, cos my mum rides,
so I'm really lucky in that aspect, yeah. I got pushed.
Even my neurosurgeon, when I had neurosurgery,
said, "Get on a horse," so...
Well, that's... That was doctor's orders. Yeah!
I expected her almost to be a bit, like...
up it and posh and all that, but she was nice.
She's so relaxed, though. It makes it so enjoyable, doesn't it?
Because she's so relaxed, she's not bothered.
And she laughs. Yeah. Which is really important.
BORIS JOHNSON: She invests a huge amount of time in...
in all sorts of charities around this country.
And sticks up for, er, you know, the smallest and most obscure,
er, charities you could - you could imagine.
The small organisations who find it more difficult...
I think raising their profile is no bad thing.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a small charity with a big profile.
Partly thanks to the princess' patronage.
Hearing Dogs came through a chap I met years ago, who,
erm, blinded in the war,
was very much part of my father's life.
He was one of those people who said,
"No," he said, "I'd rather be blind, because I...
"If I couldn't hear, I couldn't be part of this conversation."
And suddenly you become aware of the fact that this is an isolation,
erm, by being deaf.
And the dogs helped people get over that.
The charity trains the puppies
and the deaf people they'll live with.
The princess has been patron since 1992.
Hello, darlings! Hello!
Michele Jennings is the organisation's new chief executive.
She's still getting used to the hands-on royal.
She does far more than I ever expected a royal patron to do.
The temperament is crucially important,
so we breed about 75% of our own dogs.
She's incredibly engaged
in how we're bringing up these animals, how we're training them.
It's very complex, what we do.
The whole working life of the dog is around £45,000.
It's a very, very costly endeavour.
But it changes lives.
The people you go and visit and see,
they're the ones doing the research, the development
and the work on the ground,
and being the volunteers who make the difference. Not me.
But you can sometimes help other people
make an even bigger impact than they're already doing.
The team work around the clock to train dogs like Scamp,
who's become the ears of 15-year-old Amelia Price-Moxon.
May I introduce Amelia?
Hello. Nice to meet you. With her hearing dog, Scamp.
Morning, Scamp.
So, what have you found has been helpful about Scamp?
Erm, he's made me feel more confident.
Do you go out more? Yeah, with him.
On buses and trains... Yeah.
..and things like that. And he's good at that? Yeah.
Very good. That's crucial. Yes.
Cos Amelia can't really hear behind her, or...
so the safety aspect.
Scamp's been a lifesaver for you, hasn't he?
Yeah. Very good.
And he does school assemblies, as well.
Oh, really? Yes. Yeah.
Mm. He likes doing those, does he? And what about in the house?
Yeah. He, like, helps me like sleep better,
as I know he's there with me. Mm-hm.
And he does - he doesn't sleep on the bed, does he?
Yeah. But at the end. OK.
LAUGHTER
PETER PHILIPS: She's been supporting a lot of these organisations
for many, many years.
She's invested in, you know, all those things now.
That's why, I think, everything that she's involved in has done so well.
If you've got that much knowledge and...
erm, association with something, you put your passion into it.
Certainly, as she's got older,
she's tried to cut down, although she clearly hasn't.
As the princess enters her eighth decade,
cutting down is not on the agenda.
When Trooping the Colour's over for another year,
the Household Cavalry head for the beach.
It's time for the horses' summer holiday.
We come out here to get the horses away from London.
We're really lucky to be able to take them
for a couple of beach rides, go for a canter-slash-gallop,
and we take the horses swimming.
Some of them love it.
Some of them are a bit reluctant to get in the water.
Their colonel also enjoys the seaside.
Today, she's dropping in for a private visit,
horseplay and a spot of lunch.
Every year, she comes up after the Queen's birthday
for a drink in the mess.
And occasionally to some dinners.
Erm, but not to summer camp, regularly.
She came up, erm... Well, she was due to come up last year,
but, unfortunately, her helicopter broke down.
Morning.
Colonel Anne, as she's known, arrives without fuss or formality
and joins in the camp activities.
It's a bit more of a relaxed environment.
And it's great to be able to see, you know, our colonel
come along to chat to lots of soldiers and the officers,
to meet the horses, to go for a ride.
It's just a really good way to do a visit.
OK, we have Oscar for you to ride... OK.
..ride later.
Major Harriet Telfer is a regimental vet,
used to talking horse with the princess.
I mean, clearly, her horse knowledge is...
is outstanding.
Even as a clinician, I sort of...
worry that she knows more than I do about the horses!
And you'd think that would be intimidating,
but it isn't, cos she puts you at ease.
You seem to have an empty box. LAUGHTER
You see Colonel Anne go up to soldiers,
and, at first, they are really nervous. Rigidly nervous.
And as soon as she starts talking, and talking about
something they know, they just instantly relax.
Colonel, we've got you on Javelin, which is a colonel's horse.
Oh, Javelin. I thought you said Oscar.
Well, it was Oscar. Erm...
I've taken advice from the other riding master.
So you've spread the blame already!
Yeah, absolutely! Erm, I rode Javelin yesterday on the drills,
and she was very good, actually. No, fair enough.
HORSE WHICKERS
It's not Trooping the Colour.
But the day still has some of the ingredients the princess enjoys:
duty, precision and horses.
No, walk on. Not backwards. Thank you.
12 months on,
a virus has made all this a golden memory.
Back at Gatcombe Park, the farmer princess has work to do.
Well, I don't sit still.
I mean, that's the advantage of being here,
is there's always plenty to do, and a lot of it is physical.
She doesn't go to the gym, but she is...
She will always go for a walk, or she'll always do something in a day.
You know, she's... she's very disciplined in...
in that kind of thing. She still rides every day.
She's always walking the dogs. She's not one of these people
to sit down and, you know, feel sorry for yourself.
As soon as travel was legal,
she was back visiting testing stations.
Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness. Good afternoon.
In time of crisis, representing the Queen.
'In this day and age,
'there's still an expectation of the monarch
'for that kind of overall assistance.
And I suppose part of it is the experience that we have
across the board just gets... gives you a...
a better idea of the impact that these dramas are having.
And I would argue that that spread of knowledge is important,
that you're not seen to be a single-issue person.
Being seen as a role model was never an ambition.
One of the oddities about my life is that I've never either felt that,
or, erm... or was encouraged to BE that.
Maybe because...
I like doing things on my own, and I did my own things,
so, no, I'm afraid I was really bad at that sort of role model bit.
The princess was born as post-war Britain was being recast.
The processes that shaped the nation helped to shape her,
a royal for the new age.
She is very uncompromising, and she is incredibly loyal.
I'm sure she would never self-identify as a feminist,
but, you know, she's a working woman,
and, er, feminism is as feminism does.
I wish I had her energy!
There's nothing she's not prepared to tackle.
She keeps herself very fit and just gets on with it.
Frances Segelman Petchey has finished her sculpture.
This is very much like Elizabeth I.
Her hair. The way it goes up.
Thanks to COVID-19,
the subject herself hasn't seen it yet.
We're hoping that Princess Anne will unveil it
for her birthday, in August.
I think it's elegant.
And I think it's imposing, and I think it's her.
She is a very elegant, serene, strong lady.
At the start of her eighth decade,
the Princess Royal could just put her feet up.
She won't be spending her weekends at home with her slippers on.
She's more likely to be wearing sea boots.
Our ideal of a, er... a break, if we have a break,
is to go up to our boat on the west coast of Scotland.
Er, spend a few days... sometimes getting wet and cold.
It is very nice to be able to do it just together.
I navigate. I know how to get from A to B,
but she's a better, er, sailor of the boat.
She's... She's better at setting the sails and that sort of thing.
I'm sure she tells the admiral what to do.
She's also - she's also an admiral. Oh, yes, she is!
SHE LAUGHS
And actually, I think she's slightly more senior than he is, as well.
I'm sure they tell each other. Luckily.
You wouldn't go on a boat with them, would you?
For this senior royal senior citizen,
stopping is clearly out of the question.
But there is another S-word.
Slow down? I thought I had slowed down.
I think the... the thing that nags away at you
is that, after all this time, you should have learnt something.
And there is an element of responsibility
to make sure that you kind of knit that knowledge together
and pass that on.
Maybe I could ask you each a word that sums up HRH?
I wish you had told us this at the beginning,
then we could have thought about it.
If you read your notes, you'd have known this question was coming.
Well, you haven't got one ready!
Well, do you know what,
I don't know whether this is the right word...
"tenacious", I think, is a pretty good word to...
to sum her up.
I don't know if you can sum her up in one word.
You can't, but that's about as...
It's a bit stingy. ..good as I can come up with.
I'll give you three.
SHE LAUGHS OK.
Professional.
Erm, caring.
Honest.
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