Princess Anne at Westminster Abbey in London for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023; Prince Harry at Westminster Abbey in London for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023.Photo:Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty, Andy Stenning - WPA Pool/Getty
Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty, Andy Stenning - WPA Pool/Getty
The Princess Royal, 73, raised concerns that the black bicorn hat with red plume was too large to wear at her elder brother’s crowning ceremony at Westminster Abbey in May 2023 but was encouraged to wear it anyway, Hardman writes inThe Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, serialized in theDaily Mailand out Jan. 18. Though social media usersmade muchof the fact that Princess Anne’s cap feather blocked Harry’s face in much of the coronation broadcast, theDaily Mailreported that Hardman says it wasn’t deliberate.
“This is nonsense. Not only do the Lord Chamberlain’s Office not think like that, but the Princess Royal had only switched to that seat after her request for a speedy exit,” Hardman writes in his new book. Princess Anne had to saddle up for her role asGold-Stick-in-Waitingandjoin the processionof 6,000 armed services personnel to Buckingham Palace after the crowning.
Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence arrive at Westminster Abbey in for the coronation on May 6, 2023.Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty
Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty
“ ’The hat was an interesting question,' the Princess recalled later. ‘I said: ‘Are you sure you want me to keep the hat on? Because it’s quite a decent-sized hat.’ And the answer was yes. There you go. Not my choice,’ ” Hardman quotes Princess Anne as saying inThe Making of A King.
Before the May 6 coronation, the Princess Royal joked in aCBC Newsinterview that participating in the procession as Gold-Stick-in-Waiting and wearing the uniform reflecting her colonelcy of the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Calvary “solves my dress problem” for the historic day.
Prince Harry and Princess Anne at King Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023.Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty
Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty
She processed into Westminster Abbey with her husband,Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and took a seat in the second row of a section reserved for members of the royal family. The spot fell in front of her nephew the Duke of Sussex, who traveled in from California — where he lives with his wife,Meghan Markle, and their two young children — to see his father crowned. In photos from the church service, Harry smiled as his aunt took her seat. She kept the hat on throughout the ceremony.
Members of the royal family at Westminster Abbey during the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023.Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty
Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty
As Princess Anne waited outside Balmoral Castle to greet her brother, the new sovereign, in the moments after their mother’s death at age 96, a staffer offered her a brief hug after noticing that the royal appeared visibly distressed.
“There then followed a wry smile. ‘That is the last time that’s going to happen,' the Princess said firmly,” Hardman writes.
Queen Elizabeth on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade in June 2022.Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images
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Hardman shared a memo of the monarch’s final moments from her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, who was at Balmoral when the Queen died.
“Very peaceful. In her sleep. Slipped away. Old age. She wouldn’t have been aware of anything. No pain,” Young noted in the previously unseen memo that’s now part of the Royal Archives, according toDaily Mail.
source: people.com
