Princess Anne covers Vanity Fair, says young royals should go ‘back to basics’

The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Anne has always done things her own way.

From telling her attempted kidnapper in 1974 that it was “not bloody likely” she’d be going anywhere with him to her more recent headline-making moment in December where she was seen shrugging her shoulders as she avoided greeting US President Donald Trump, The Princess Royal is as witty as she is hard-working.

Ahead of her 70th birthday in August, Princess Anne sat down with Vanity Fair for a rare interview as the magazine’s May cover star.

Speaking to VF at St. James’ Palace (in between a packed schedule of official engagements), Anne opened up about her continued work with the Royal Family, her children and her advice for the next generation of royals.

As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently stepped away from their HRH titles, Princess Anne reflected on her decision to break with royal tradition by not giving her own children, Peter and Zara, HRH titles when they were born.

“I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles,” she recalled, adding, “So I think that was probably the right thing to do.”

Known for keeping a full schedule, Princess Anne doesn't have plans to retire anytime soon.

“It’s not just about, ‘Can I get a tick in the box for doing this?’ No, it’s about serving,” Princess Anne said about her patronages, particularly, her 50 years with Save the Children.

“It comes from an example from both my parents’ way of working and where they saw their role being. I mean, my father served. It was a more direct form of service, I suppose you could argue. And the Queen’s has been a lifelong service in a slightly different way, but they both have that perspective of service which is about working with people,” Princess Anne continued.

“It took me probably 10 years before I really felt confident enough to contribute to Save the Children’s public debates, because you needed to understand how it works on the ground and that needed a very wide coverage. So my early trips were really important.”

And while she’s occasionally broken from tradition herself, when it comes to the Royal Family’s views on philanthropy, Princess Anne said she’s “the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back,” advising the younger generation, “Don’t forget the basics. I don’t think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past and it’s often true, isn’t it?” she questioned.

“You don’t necessarily look at the previous generation and say, ‘Oh, you did that?’ Or, ‘You went there?’ Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh let’s do it a new way.’ And I’m already at the stage, ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’”