Princess Anne Resumes Duties Weeks After Celebrating 74th Birthday

After spending her summer at Balmoral with her family, Princess Anne is back at work. She resumed her royal duties this week with a full schedule, beginning Thursday, August 29.

Anne appeared at the opening of the newly refurbished Carloway Community Association’s Community Centre on Thursday. While there, she toured the upgraded facilities and met with local members and volunteers.

After that, she visited the Ishga Organic Seaweed Skincare Company, which makes natural skincare products from Scottish seaweed. She then traveled to the Scottish town of Stornoway, where she visited Bethesda Care Home and Hospice before attending the opening of Point and Sandwick Trust Community Hub at Old Knock School.

This comes after a busy summer for Anne, who was hospitalized in June with a concussion sustained during a horse-related accident on her Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire.

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Princess Anne was born to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1950, and she’s kept royal watchers enamored for more than 70 years. Anne married British army Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. The following year, the newlyweds had a fright when an attempt was made to kidnap the princess. Anne has been known for […]

The palace shared in a statement the day after the incident that she was “expected to make a full and swift recovery.”

“She’s doing fine — slow but sure,” her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, assured reporters in June. “We are both profoundly grateful to the medical team and hospital support staff for their expert care — and to the emergency services who were all so wonderful at the scene.”

After canceling a host of public appearances in the immediate aftermath, she returned to the public eye three weeks later, admitting she “can’t remember a single thing” about her accident.

In July, she traveled to France for the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she met with Team Great Britain athletes and presented medals to British swimmers and equestrians. Anne herself is a former Olympian, competing in eventing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1988.

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The princess turned 74 on August 15, spending her summer birthday at Balmoral Castle with Laurence, 69. More members of the royal family stopped by throughout the month, including Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince George.

Anne’s schedule only picks up from here. In September, she will represent her brother, King Charles III, on a trip to the Netherlands to mark 80 years since the battle of Arnhem, fought during World War II. Her appointment in Charles’ place comes as the King undergoes cancer treatment, leading some to speculate about his health.

Charles assured royal followers during a public appearance at Southport on August 20 by saying, “I’m not too bad.”