Princess Anne talks younger generation of royals as she warns against ‘doing things a new way’
In a rare interview ahead of her 70th birthday, Princess Anne has warned the younger royals against “reinventing the wheel” and opened up about why she’s “quite mean”.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Princess Anne has seemingly taken a subtle dig at her nephew Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, advising the younger royals against “doing things a new way” just for the sake of it.
In a rare interview with Vanity Fair ahead of her 70th birthday, the only daughter of the Queen and Prince Philip, urged the younger royals to go “back to basics” and cautioned them against trying to “reinvent the wheel”.
“I don’t think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past and it’s often true, isn’t it?” she told the magazine.
“You don’t necessarily look at the previous generation and say, ‘Oh, you did that?’ Or, ‘You went there?’ Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh let’s do it a new way.’ And I’m already at the stage, ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’”
But the 69-year-old did joke that she is“the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back saying: ‘Don’t forget the basic.’”
The princess also conceded she had also followed a tried and true way of approaching her philanthropy interests and royal duties as Prince Harry and Meghan, Prince William and Kate, forged a different way.
Princess Anne did not refer to Prince Harry or Meghan directly, but 20202 has already seen the couple quit royal life for a new start in California as they prepare to launch a new charitable venture, Archewell, from the US.
Still, she did say the strain of growing up under the royal spotlight had influenced her decision not to give her own children, Zara and Peter, titles.
“I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles,” she said.
Long considered one of the hardest working members of the royal family, Princess Anne also addressed how long her mother, who turns 94 on April 21, will keep working, saying the time will come when she passes more and more responsibility onto her family.
“I think both my father and my mother have, quite rightly, made decisions about, you know, ‘I can’t spend enough time doing this and we need to find somebody else to do it’, because it makes sense,” said the princess who turns 70 in August.
“I have to admit they continued being there for a lot longer than I had in mind, but we’ll see.”
The Duke of Edinburgh retired in 2017, but the Queen still carried out close-to a staggering 300 official duties in 2019.
The princess, though, has no plans to retire.
“I don’t think retirement is quite the same [for me],” she said. “Most people would say we’re very lucky not to be in that situation because you wouldn’t want to just stop.
“It is, to a large extent, the choice of the organisations you’re involved with and whether they feel you’re still relevant.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Princess Anne also discussed her aversion to screens.
“Life’s too short, frankly. There’s more entertaining things to be done,” she said, adding: “I suppose that puts me in the real dinosaur range.”
As for her tendency to wear clothes that are decades-old, the Princess had a simple explanation, claiming she recycles “because I’m quite mean”.
More recently, the 69-year-old has also garnered a whole new set of younger fans thanks to the hit Netflix series The Crown, where she’s portrayed as a progressive feminist.
MORE NEWS
Warren latest ex-presidential rival to back Biden
Surprise! Apple reveals cheap iPhone
Flight plan for stranded Aussies as global cases hit 2 million
