Princess Anne in hospital

[Mylovelygreendress]

Breaking news on Sky .

Princess Anne in hospital following an “ incident” yesterday .

More worry for the RF

"I'd actually think she was quite pleased!"
About not being Queen, I agree. Being bumped down by your brothers would be a bit grim.

Not every woman compares herself with her siblings though. I certainly never did and I really don’t compare myself now to others, either.

”If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

@AliceOlive It's not a case of her comparing herself. It's a very clear case of her being very publicly considered "less" because of her sex. Thank heavens that's changed for Charlotte.

I think Anne has said herself words to the effect of 'I wasn't the fairytale type princess that people expected'.

Her qualities have become appreciated more in later years by many of us.

It’s a conjecture to say she felt this way.

Absolutely. In Anne's place I'd look at what the late Queen did and the pressure on my elder brother and decide that it wasn't for me. Anne might well have done the same. And given that she was born in 1951, she might well have grown up accepting it as the normal way of things.Much as I like her, I can't see Anne as a radfem, but then she doesn't need to be, she's carved out her career in the RF by being, well, Anne. Just like her father did. He accepted he was going to be forever three paces behind, so he developed his own interests and spheres.

I suspect there were some kiwi fruits in the cool bag.

Exactly. Both she and her father could have whined and moaned about it not being fair, but instead they accepted the circumstances they found themselves in, and decided that they could actively find a role that fitted them within those circumstances. That has to be the way to find peace with the world

I think that's the intelligent approach. Consider themselves lucky and privileged and find a positive role for themselves.

And not every woman wants to be top of the tree, either. For all we know when she gets older and understands how close she is to the throne Charlotte might not be happy about that. She might look at Anne and see her as a very good role model.

Given the amount of time Anne spent with QEQM, and her belief that being king killed her husband young, she may also have felt like it was a relief to drop down the line.

I do think that can’t have helped the stress levels of QEII or now Charles. It must have made a daunting role seem even bigger.

Not wanting to derail totally into a discussion about the Wales children, but I think what reaction, if any, Charlotte and Louis have to being the first high-ranking royals to be affected by that change will be interesting to see.

@AliceOlive "It’s a conjecture to say she felt this way."

Yes, of course it is! Just as everybody saying they think she was perfectly fine about it is speculation. Just as practically anything anybody posts about the RF is speculation. It just seems more likely than not that a girl seeing that she is less important than her younger brothers simply because she is a girl is going to find that difficult. Because that is generally how people work.

Finding myself in line to the throne would be like one of those nightmares where you wake and take a few seconds to reassure yourself it isn’t real ( which, as it turns out, it wouldn’t be.)

I think they all live with the sense that the heir is the important one - the documentary where Anne talked about being treated differently than Charles by the nanny also had a clip from one of the Queen’s cousins remembering going as a child to a family party with their mother, and the mother discreetly pointing out the then Princess Elizabeth and saying something like “she’s the important one’ - as in she’s the one we keep on the right side of for our future benefit.

So family and staff alike probably subtly and no so subtly treat the heirs differently.

Harry clearly felt the difference sausages and bigger bedrooms etc - weirdly he seems to focus a lot of his ire about that to William - it’s hardly his fault he was born first.

The Queen and Princess Anne both regularly rode without a helmet. I suspect she has had a fall whilst not wearing a helmet but the RF do not want that particular detail to be public knowledge. I hope she recovers well and is back in the saddle soon.

You have no idea if this is the case.

Quite, @wordler . If Harry had any sense, he'd see that.

@DelectableMe
"You have no idea if this is the case"

No. As I said-none of us have any idea if anything we post on here is the case. But if I had a kingdom, I would bet half of it on this one being the case.

I don’t think Anne’s pr team would be stupid enough to lie in that way @CurlewKate . I mean these are people who are highly trained in public relations, if it came out her reputation would be in tatters.

@CobbyMouthed I don't think anyone has lied, have they? They just haven't said what the accident was.

A fall isn’t the only way to sustain a head injury from a horse. Lots of other posters have recount med their experiences of being kicked or head butted. It’s also still entirely possible to sustain a head injury even if you are wearing a riding helmet, so if she had fallen there would be no reason to say otherwise

PA is still in hospital as well. Anyone know if that usual to still be in? However I suppose it’s 72 hours today (if my maths is correct) so may well be discharged today.

Quite, @smilesy . Plus, it's her decision if she wants to share the cause of injury.

@CobbyMouthed I mean, it wouldn't be a surprise-we've all seen pictures of her and the Queen riding protected only by an Aspinall headscarf!