PRINCESS ANNE STEPS DOWN

With her kids begging her to slow down, the princess is making big changes

There can be no doubt that the Princess Royal fully deserves her decades-long title of "hardest-working royal".

The no-nonsense closest advisor to the Crown was indispensable to the late Queen and now to her brother King Charles from the day she was born.

However, sources say Princess Anne, who turns 73 next week, has finally listened to worried family members and is considering a step back from royal duties.

In a surprise announcement from the palace, Anne tellingly hasn't been listed as part of a group of senior royals set for two years of tours to the Commonwealth countries in what is labelled a "soft democracy" blitz, with Charles, 74, his wife Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales front and centre.