The Queen's only daughter, The Princess Royal, is celebrating her 72nd birthday today and will no doubt spend it by keeping as busy as she always has done.
Princess Anne is famous for her dedication and has supported many important causes over the years, including Save The Children, helping those with disabilities and supporting carers. As a result of her unwavering efforts, Princess Anne is consistently ranked as one of the hardest working royals every year. One cause that she has been instrumental in helping through the years is the Olympics. Having competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Princess Anne played a hugely important role in securing London as the hosts of the 2012 games. But during one press conference she seemingly revealed her true feelings to a room full of people.
In the documentary 'Anne: The Princess Royal at 70' to celebrate her landmark birthday, a number of famous faces came together to speak about her impact and share funny stories.
Lord Sebastian Coe recalled one particular moment that he admitted to finding hilarious. He said: " The Princess Royal was on the big committee and her contribution was seismic and it was always to the point, she doesn't always suffer fools gladly and she doesn't speak for the sake of speaking.
"I do remember after a rather long-winded interjection by one of the committee members she had actually forgotten to turn her microphone off and she did manage to utter the immortal words 'I think this person is probably the most stupid person in world sport'.
"This echoed absolutely around the room and she never flinched, it was as though it had never happened and we just moved on but it is probably one of my favourite moments."
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Princess Anne famously tops the list as one of the hardest working royals and shows no sign of slowing down. So just how does she do it? We wonder if her incredibly 'unroyal' diet plays a part in keeping her in peak condition.
If there was one word used to describe Princess Anne's diet, it certainly wouldn't be 'luxurious'. The princess favours practical, healthy and vitamin-rich foods over rich and exuberant dishes- and it is safe to say that it has done her good!
The Queen's former royal chef Darren McGrady previously explained some details of the princess's diet. He told TODAY : "Princess Anne almost always preferred the bananas almost black - overripe - because they digest easier."
A medical director at The Slimming Clinic explained: “As we grow older, we are in danger of losing muscle mass – protein helps with weight loss efforts since it keeps you fuller for longer." She continued: "Foods that I imagine she eats regularly are salmon, whole eggs, and grass-fed beef (to name a few).
Princess Anne was born 72 years ago today (August 15) at Clarence House to the then Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. She was the younger sister of Prince Charles and would later become an elder sister to Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
She married for the first time in 1973 to Captain Mark Phillips and has two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall. In the same documentary to mark Princess Anne's birthday, her two children were asked if they'd ever tried to get their mother to slow down as she gets older.
Zara joked: “I mean, good luck! We would try and then it would be a very short conversation.” Peter then added: “She’s like a sponge, it’s unbelievable the information that is stored in her brain." Zara laughed and said: "It’s incredible. It’s quite annoying as well.”
Princess Anne and Captain Phillips announced their separation in 1992 and she married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence later that year in Scotland. Princess Anne is now a doting grandmother to her four granddaughters and one grandson.
