For many people a birthday – especially a major birthday – is a cause for celebration. However, whilst the date no doubt won’t go unmarked entirely, Princess Anne apparently has a strict rule which means a big party probably isn’t on the cards when she turns 75 on August 15.
Opening up on the podcast, Royals with Roya and Kate, Roya Nikkah, The Sunday Times’s Royal Editor, suggested that the Princess Royal reportedly follows something of a specific rule when it comes to birthday celebrations.
Explaining this rule, the royal expert claimed, “Anne’s policy is ‘I will do things for my birthdays that have a zero, but I won’t do things for my birthdays that have a five.'”
The royal expert even alleged the Princess Royal has apparently “cancelled meetings” to avoid having to discuss celebrations for her upcoming birthday. Whether or not this particular rumour is true, woman&home’s Royal Editor, Emma Shacklock, isn’t expecting there to be much fanfare from the royal on August 15.
“Objectively 75 is a milestone birthday, but Princess Anne already made it clear earlier this year that she didn’t want a lot of public fuss or an official party,” she says. “Instead, she hosted a dinner at Buckingham Palace in June for hundreds of guests from the charities she supports.”
Emma continues, “This move is quintessential Princess Anne. It reflects her strong work ethic and focus on raising awareness for causes close to her heart. Her birthday doesn’t change this in the slightest, as in her mind, it’s never been about her.”
(Image credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
The Royal Mint has recently released a coin celebrating the Princess Royal and in Emma’s view, it is likely that the Royal Family will mark the Princess’s birthday with at least a social media post with a message.
Looking back at Princess Anne’s other birthdays over the years, it seems she often does stick to the rule Roya described. Her celebrations tend to be low-key or private and her more large-scale events have been at the start of a new decade.
To mark her 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays, photographer John Swannell was commissioned to take official portraits which were released publicly. The 70th birthday snaps in 2020 were taken at Gatcombe Park where Princess Anne lives.
These pictures were all in honor of birthdays with a zero and for her 50th birthday in 2000, the Princess Royal enjoyed a lavish dinner at Windsor Castle hosted by Queen Elizabeth a few months later in November.
For the glamorous soiree, Princess Anne wore her stunning sapphire brooch, complete with 12 diamonds and a large faceted sapphire in the center that once belonged to Queen Victoria.
At the event, she famously gave a toast where she thanked her parents, the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, for her “accident of birth”, playfully poking fun at her senior royal status.
(Image credit: Fiona Hanson/PA Images via Alamy)
While it seems that Roya might be correct about the Princess Royal’s birthday rule, one thing that might be more debatable is the suggestion that Princess Anne has a timeline in mind for stepping back from royal duties.
On her podcast, Roya said that the Princess Royal has allegedly informed those closest to her when they can expect her to start scaling back her workload.
The Royal Editor said, “I was told that she’s told her team, ‘I’m going to start winding down a little bit at 80 in five years’ time, and then I want to step back completely at 90.'”
Interestingly, this timeline is similar to that of Anne’s father, Prince Philip, who ultimately stepped back from public life completely at 96 years old.
