If this is Tuesday, it must be England #178

 

Happy 74th Birthday on August 15 to Her Royal Highness Anne, The Princess Royal. **

The Princess Royal started undertaking public work at the age of 18 and has established significant and ongoing relationships with a number of charities and organizations across the Commonwealth and has one of the busiest working schedules of any member of the Royal Family.

Her Royal Highness has been President of Save the Children UK since 1970, and it was the first major charity with which she became closely associated.  Her Royal Highness is involved in over 300 charities, organizations, and military regiments in the UK and overseas, and devotes a large part of her working life to official engagements and visits.

The Princess Royal is one of the few women in the Royal Family who regularly wears a military uniform.  She was given the honor of riding behind the Gold State Coach carrying the newly crowned King Charles II and Queen Camilla as they traveled down the Mall in 2023.

A keen equestrian, Her Royal Highness competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and is a member of the International Olympic Committee.  Her Royal Highness is President of the British Olympic Association and was a regular fixture at Team Great Britian events.  At a meeting with athletes at the British Embassy prior to the Paris 2024 Olympics, she told them:

"I hope you will feel that this is the environment which encourages you to perform at your best, although you won't know that until it happens, but if it's a personal best, you can be imminently proud of what you've achieved because you will know you couldn't have done any better."

She added, "It requires such inspiration and innovation to maintain those levels of excellence for an Olympic Games that says something enormous about your achievements and your skills. Thank you for your commitment and your support and I just wish you every bit of success and that it goes as well as you hope in every way."

**Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters.  Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family.  There have been seven Princesses Royal.  Princess Anne became Princess Royal in 1987.