THE ORIGINAL ROYAL REBEL TURNS 70!

Royal fave Princess Anne celebrates her milestone birthday this week

Kate and Meghan may have stolen her spotlight and she’s dropped down the line of heirs but there is no royal quite like miniskirt wearing, lorry-driving sports champ Princess Anne. And what better time to celebrate the Princess Royal than on her 70th birthday? Here are 20 things you need to know about this thoroughly modern trailblazer...

1. Princess Anne was born under the reign of her grandfather, King George VI, and is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. She is 14th in line to the throne.

2. Anne was the first princess to wear a miniskirt, and is a fan of supporting British fashion designers. “I very seldom buy anything which isn’t made in the UK,” she says.

3. The Duchess of Cambridge has made recycled outfits a thing but Anne has been doing just the same for decades. Notable worn again pieces include a pink satin gown she wore in 1984 and then again 20 years later, a beige skirt-suit with patterned blazer that has been seen numerous times and Anne’s favourite blue fur-lined coat that has spanned no less than five decades!

4 Anne was the first royal to be educated outside of Buckingham Palace, attending private school Benenden from the age of 13. She left in 1968 with six O-Levels and three A-Levels in Politics, History and English.