Our no-nonsense Anne will soon be back in the saddle

As the Princess Royal recovers in hospital after suffering minor injuries and concussion, Tessa Dunlop examines the life and stiff-upper-lip attitude of The Firm’s hardest worker

- Tessa Dunlop

The Princess Royal is under observation, just precautionary we’re assured, for a bit of light concussion. Details are scant, but apparently Anne had a run-in with a horse on her Gatcombe Park estate a couple of days ago. She was walking at the time, not riding. Buckingham Palace remains upbeat – the Princess Royal “is expected to make a full and swift recovery”.

Meanwhile, Anne is stuck in a hospital bed, no doubt tutting at the prospect of a disrupted schedule. In her own words, when it comes to work she likes to pack it in. She was forced to miss yesterday’s royal welcome and state banquet for the emperor and empress of Japan. Later in the week, there was to be a trip to Canada. No more.

These are temporary blips. Like her parents, Anne is made of tough stuff. But the convalescence of Britain’s hardest-working royal highlights both the fragility of our current royal family and the princess’s recent prominence within Team Windsor.

Just before the coronation, in a rare interview, Anne dismissed notions of a slimmed-down monarchy: “It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I am standing, I have to say, I am not quite sure what else we can do.” And that was before the family was hit with two cancer diagnoses. When it comes to Anne, who will celebrate her 74th birthday this summer, there really isn’t much more she can do.