Princess Anne will always be denied a huge privilege as Princess Royal that both Prince William and the Princess of Wales have.
Princess Anne is the King’s sister and one of the most hard-working members of the Royal Family but her security situation isn’t quite as clear cut as you might expect. When the senior royals are out and about undertaking public-facing duties fans can often spot their protection officers. However, whilst you might imagine this is the Princess Royal’s reality at all times, this level of protection isn’t the norm for her.
Despite how many engagements and international visits Princess Anne takes on and how much she’s trusted by King Charles, she doesn’t have full-time security. Princess Anne is denied the huge privilege of round-the-clock protection that King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family have.
It’s understood that she only has police protection when she’s carrying out official duties in her capacity as a working royal. When she returns home to Gatcombe Park or is otherwise off duty, the Princess Royal doesn’t have publicly-funded security at all. This might sound strange given she’s one of King Charles’s Counsellors of State and the late Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter.
However, the same principle also reportedly applies to her youngest brother Prince Edward and his wife Duchess Sophie. All three are working members of the Royal Family, though they are much lower down in the royal line of succession. Princess Anne herself is 17th, behind all her brothers and their descendants.
Perhaps this has been factored into the security decision, as the protection of Prince William, Kate and their children is crucial to the direct line of succession. The Prince and Princess of Wales have always had 24/7 security for them and their family as he is the heir to the throne and she is the future Queen Consort.
Princess Anne’s nieces Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie used to receive public-funded protection despite not being working royals but in 2011 this all changed.
It’s been claimed that King Charles stepped in and allegedly put forward the argument that the Princesses weren’t likely to become working royals at that point and didn’t require such expensive security. Princess Anne has long been a working royal but it’s likely the enormous cost of full-time protection has led to only a few royals having it.
For anyone wondering if Zara Tindall has security, the answer is also no as Princess Anne’s daughter has never been a working member of the Royal Family. Despite Princess Anne being denied this security privilege and being low down in the succession, she’s one of the most high-profile royals.
Last year royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams expressed his belief to MailOnline that the Princess Royal’s position right next to the King in his group coronation portrait taken by Hugo Burnand highlights how significant she is to him.
“Princess Anne's proximity to the sovereign, that's no accident. She's experienced and hard-working,” he claimed. “Anne's been at it a long long time, she knows the ropes. The King knows how popular she is, so it's no accident his sister is next door to him.”
He continued, “It shows how much he appreciates her and how much he will be relying on her, she is extremely popular and has a high profile. People know who she is and respect her, that's very important.”
Since King Charles’s cancer diagnosis was made public by Buckingham Palace earlier this month, the Princess Royal has been continuing to undertake her usual, packed schedule of engagements. She also stepped in and represented King Charles at the funeral of the late President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, on 25th February.
