{"id":198291,"date":"2026-04-15T17:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/198291\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:27:15","slug":"why-queen-elizabeth-worried-about-princess-anne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/198291\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Queen Elizabeth worried about Princess Anne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Relatable, down-to-earth, and plain-speaking, Princess Anne<\/a> is famous for her relentless devotion to duty – and is widely regarded as the most reliable and hard-working member of the royal family. But behind Palace walls, her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>, harboured a very specific worry about her only daughter\u2019s formidable work ethic.<\/p>\n

This intimate insight into the maternal side of the monarch was shared by renowned royal author Robert Hardman during a live recording of HELLO!\u2019s A Right Royal Podcast<\/a>. Speaking at the special HELLO! VIP event, Robert revealed that while much is made of the Queen\u2019s relationship with her sons, her concern for Anne was “complex” and much more “nuanced”.<\/p>\n

Princess Anne consistently tops the rankings for the highest number of royal engagements each year (completing an astonishing 474 in 2024 alone), often out-pacing much younger members of The Firm. While the public applauds this stamina, Robert – author of the new biography Elizabeth II: In Private, In Public – told the live audience that it was a frequent source of anxiety for the Queen.<\/p>\n

“It was very sweet; she worried that Princess Anne worked too hard,” Robert explained. “She\u2019d say, ‘I wish Anne would slow down a bit.'”<\/p>\n

WATCH: The sweet reason Queen Elizabeth worried about Princess Anne<\/p>\n

The Andrew comparison<\/p>\n

Robert noted that the Queen\u2019s “worry” for Anne was distinct from the concern she felt for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>. While Anne was seen as a “self-starter” – confident, capable, and relentless in her duties – the Queen viewed Andrew through a different maternal lens.<\/p>\n

\"Queen\u00a9 Keystone, GettyThe Queen gazes adoringly at Andrew in a family portrait outside Balmoral Castle in 1960. She worried for her youngest child but her concerns for Princess Anne (far left) were more complex<\/p>\n

“Andrew was headstrong, sheepish, he is often described as the start of her ‘second family’ because he came along ten years after Anne. He was a bouncy, lively child and she adored him, obviously. She could see that the others [her older children] would get on with life, but he was the one that she worried about most.”<\/p>\n

Robert Hardman<\/p>\n

Anne was made Princess Royal in 1987 by her mother in recognition of her hard work. And she still keeps a rocket pace in her diary today. She\u2019s been known to fit six visits into a single day without stopping for lunch. Her only request? A cup of coffee \u201cstrong enough to stand a spoon in\u201d.<\/p>\n

As she approaches her 76th birthday in August 2026, she shows no signs of slowing down. “I don\u2019t think there is a retirement programme on this particular life. It really isn’t an option,” she remarked at the start of 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Princess\u00a9 Getty ImagesAs she approaches her 76th birthday in August, Princess Anne shows no signs of slowing down<\/p>\n

This revelation about the Queen\u2019s private maternal thoughts is just one of the fascinating untold stories Robert Hardman shared during our live recording. From the Queen’s secret “nervous exhaustion”<\/a> to her complicated role as a mother and a monarch, the full episode is a must-watch for any royal enthusiast.<\/p>\n

How to watch the podcast episode<\/p>\n

Watch the full episode of HELLO!’s special live A Right Royal Podcast episode below:<\/p>\n

WATCH: A Right Royal Podcast live<\/p>\n

Robert Hardman’s new book \u2013 Elizabeth II: In Private, In Public, The Inside Story \u2013 is published ahead of what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Relatable, down-to-earth, and plain-speaking, Princess Anne is famous for her relentless devotion to duty – and is widely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1432,77510,9,24,63,9380,122,124,123,1431,1245],"class_list":{"0":"post-198291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-british-royals","9":"tag-hello-vip","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-princess-anne","14":"tag-queens","15":"tag-queens-headlines","16":"tag-queens-news","17":"tag-royalty","18":"tag-the-queen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}