EXCLUSIVE Princess Anne, who has been named the hardest working royal more than once due to her number of engagements, is believed to be willing to step up after King Charles’ cancer news, a former royal butler for The Firm says.
Princess Anne, who has conducted the most royal engagements for the past three years in a row, would be ready to accept she may have to lend a hand to help, a former staffer says. The Princess Royal’s schedule is typically jam-packed, with her carrying out 457 engagements in 2023 alone. Following King Charles cancer news, and the monarch needing to withdraw from public duties, other members of The Firm will need to step up to fill in the gaps. Buckingham Palace has confirmed His Majesty will still conduct official business remotely and where and if needed, in-face meetings. The monarch’s cancer diagnosis will not be affecting his workload, just public events or planned overseas travels.
Princess Anne will ‘definitely step in’
Grant Harrold, a former butler to The Firm has told CelebrityTidbit.com the Princess Royal would be putting in the work to help her brother Charles.
He also believes fans may see more of her husband, who tends to join engagements with her, Sir Timothy Laurence.
Harrold said: “The main thing is that the King will be stepping back from the public side of things and other members of the family, including Queen Camilla and Prince William, will be stepping up to help.
“Other members of the royal family that we may see taking on duties include the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. It’s possible that we’ll see them doing more engagements.
“Without any question, Princess Anne will definitely step in, and she may be with her husband.”
Princess Anne took the crown for the most royal engagements for 2022 and 2023, beating King Charles – pardon the pun.
According to The Telegraph, the 73-year-old had 457 engagements last year, after taking the top spot for the previous two years. But this doesn’t overshadow the work of other senior members, or the monarch himself, who has other duties to complete alongside public events.
Dickie Arbiter, former press spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth II, said at the time: “She just gets on with it, often carrying out multiple engagements in one day.”
Charles was second on the list with 425 engagements, which is quite a lot, considering he has to attend meetings with the Prime Minister, Privy Council meetings, private conferences and going through the red boxes.
Royals will be there to support the King
The former butler also explained how the family will be supporting the Crown in his time of need. King Charles has started his cancer treatment as an outpatient at home.
Yesterday, Prince Harry landed in the UK to see his father and Queen Camilla, before the duo flew to the Sandringham estate via helicopter.
Harrold added: “The way in which the royals work is that you’ve got the monarch, who is the head of the family. From there, other members of the royal family are technically paid by the monarch. It’s a job, and they are there to support the King, so they will be reimbursed through that.
“The senior members of the royal family are there to support the monarch and that will continue to do so during this time. You’ve also got the Counsellors of State, who are on hand when the monarch is unavailable to fulfill any duties in the UK or overseas, which is where they will step in.
“While there’s no talk of that at the moment, it will be business as usual.”
He added: “If this goes on for a long time they may have to look at possible other things, including regency, which is where the eldest son steps in.
“From my understanding, the last time this happened was with George III. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but you never know.”
Who is Princess Anne’s husband?
Sir Timothy Laurence, Anne’s second husband, has been married to the Princess Royal for three decades, with Charles, the Queen and the Queen Mother on the small guest list.
The retired Royal Navy Officer married Anne in 1992, and although we don’t know how the pair met, reports believe they were first introduced after he served as Navigating Officer on the family’s vessel, the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia.
Anne was previously married to Mark Phillips, and they shared two children, Zara and Peter.
But, due to constraints of the Church of England not recognizing re-marrying after divorce, the couple had to travel to Scotland to tie the knot. They had a small ceremony, with only 30 guests, at Crathie Kirk Church, and stayed at the Balmoral Estate.
They live on the Gatcome Park estate based in Gloucestershire, alongside daughter Zara and Mike Tindall, who have three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas. Hers on Pete reportedly lives on a separate property on the grounds.
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