Princess Anne, The Princess Royal celebrated her 60th birthday on August 15th. The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, she is considered to be the hardest working royal yet her causes get little attention. On this episode I look back at her life and highlight this misunderstood royal.
Listen to the episode here
Publications mentioned
Hello! Canada August 23, 2010 No 184
Star Magazine August 23, 2010 issue – Cover story William & Kate Royal Romance in Ruins
OK! Magazine weekly August 23, 2010 – Cover Story The William & Kate Wedding Tell-All!
From My Royal Collection
Riding Through My Life HRH The Princess Royal with Ivor Herbert
Resources used for this episode
The Official Website of the British Monarchy – The Princess Royal
The Princess Royal by John Parker
Princess Anne;: A royal girl of our time by Anne Matheson and Reginald Davis
Anne: The Working Princess by Paul James
Anne and Mark – Text by Judith Campbell, Photographs by Srdja Djukanovic
Tune in live to the next episode of The Royal Report on Sunday August 29, 2010 at 9:00PM EST (North America)
The topic will be: August 31, 2010 will mark the 13th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. On this episode, a tribute to the late princess.
The Royal Chronicles 
The frustrations of a royal profiler
Posted by Marilyn on April 3, 2007
If you visit my other blog, you may notice that from time to time I post Royal Profiles – though this link doesn’t list all of them. These profiles are on lesser known royals, hangers on, courtiers and various other people associated with the royal family.
I enjoy writing these profiles and I’m almost never at a loss for subjects. However, there are times when, although I might have an idea for a person, I can’t locate any information on them!
One example is Ingrid Seward. A well known royal watcher and commentator, editor of Majesty Magazine – one would think that there would be no problem with finding biographical information on her. Wrong! Although I found a little bit of material, most of my searches turned up lists of books she’s written and she is invariably described as “Noted royal watcher Ingrid Seward replies” or “Ingrid Seward, Editor of Majesty Magazine”.
Hardly the stuff of compelling reading.
Another two examples are Raine Spencer, the step-mother of Diana, and Margaret “Bobo” MacDonald, dresser and confidante of the Queen for 67 years. Raine is invariably written up as the “evil step-mother”, “Acid Raine” and there is no shortage of information on how much the Spencer children hated her. Can I find out where she went to school? No.
Bobo, on the other hand, was the devoted servant to the Queen. But very little is known about her prior to her entry into royal service. What was her birthdate? How many brothers and sisters did she have? How did she find out about the position? Nada.
I thoroughly enjoy researching these profiles, and it’s challenging for me to source information, but these moments make me want to throw in the towel.
Posted in Commentary, Information, Royal Profiles | 5 Comments »