Princess Anne’s take on the monarchy under King Charles

[Music] foreign this is St James's palace in London and more than just look at it let's go inside this is the private sitting room for the Princess Royal Princess Anne she has opened up the room and opened up her schedule to do something she rarely does conduct an interview with us about things she doesn't often talk about losing both her parents within the span of 18 months the upcoming coronation the future of the monarchy and Canada this is our conversation with Princess Anne so I thank you very much for making time for us I I know you don't have much of it at all I mean when I'm in London I tend to sort of packaging when I'm in London there's a reason Princess Anne is referred to as the hardest working Royal [Applause] in addition to being involved with more than 300 Charities She carries out more events than any other Royal and carries with her that sense of responsibility passed on from her mother the queen on August the 15th 1950 her daughter was born the little princess was christened Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise the second child and only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip she had her first Royal Engagement at the age of 18 and started working with save the children shortly after she still works with them Princess Anne this afternoon at the equestrian events she's an Olympian competed in Montreal in 1976. she's a mother of two and she spent her whole life under the watchful eyes of the world's cameras most recently in September when the queen died 72 year old Princess Anne with her mother until the very end for a woman so often seen she doesn't do many interviews still she sat down with us ahead of the coronation for an exclusive Canadian conversation we are so close to this this moment here we are again with history with coronation forgive me if this is a naive question but I'm how on Earth do you prepare for that good question um we've been very lucky my mother was the queen for a very long time and although you kind of know that this might happen you don't really think about it very much not least of all because the monarchy is about continuity but I think for my brother you know this is something he's been waiting for and he's probably spent more time thinking about it for the rest of us it's more a question of okay we have to shift the way we support and that's that's what we need to do and what does that shift look like for you um well that's that's we don't know yet I mean there was a there was an order to the years um because my mother didn't change very much and kind of knew what the rhythm of the year was so that will things like that will change and how we are part of the support for the monarchy made change slightly who knows and when you hear sometimes people refer to a slim down monarchy I I can't imagine what what that might mean for a role like yours I I don't know how many more hours in the day you have to take more things on well I think the slim Dan was was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable right a comment the world changes a bit it changes a bit I mean it doesn't sound like a good idea from where I'm standing I have to say sure because I'm quite sure what else you know we can do a few more Royals were indeed on the job not that long ago take prince Andrew Prince Harry and Megan off the roster in addition to the loss of the queen and Prince Philip and what you'll end up seeing at the coronation is a decidedly smaller contingent looking for uh for those of us watching on during the coronation some of the details are are yet to be released but is there a moment no I'm waiting to be told I haven't asked too many questions Smart in the terms of my role I I have a role as kernel of the Blues and rolls in the iso Calvary regiment as gold stick and gold stick was the original closed Protection Officer so that is a role that I was asked if I'd like to do for this coronation so I said yes not least of all it I so was my address problem it certainly does also that's an interesting metaphor in a way a close Protection Officer that role for the king for your brother in terms of carrying forward some of the continuity of what you have seen to stand with him oh a little bit I'll be different in in the whole service will be different in many respects uh he was just old enough to have gone to my mother's coronation I don't know what his Impressions were I was not allowed to go probably quite rightly that stage of my career um it could have been way more trouble than it was worth on the second day of June in the year 1953 Elizabeth is Led here to be anointed Elizabeth II It'll be such a different scenario and when you look at the Abbey now when you go to events and you think how did they get that number of people in there and there won't be that many in there there's there is so much in that service which you you really have to do I mean that is in fundamentally important and it's the meaning of the coronation in every way it's not just a big ceremony it is a very essential part of the responsibilities of the crime with a crown of love I realized you weren't there we've seen the pictures of that tiny curly blonde head over the balcony I don't know if your memories are formed from seeing images or if you actually it is a problem you don't quite know whether you're a membrane actual memories or whether they're so prompted by photographs that that's what you think you remember right um so no I don't have many many memories I'm apart from sort of the the group of youngsters who were left behind I suspect there was an argument about who got the rocking horse but that's I wonder who won that one he um moment of the day but [Music] we wouldn't be having this conversation had you not not that long ago it's still very fresh lost your mother the queen this is something everyone in the world can understand the private loss here [Music] I think it doesn't matter how old you are when you lose a parent you're still a child in that moment well the relationship tends to remain if you're lucky remains very similar throughout your life doesn't it yes we have an impression from what we saw because of all the cameras [Music] cameras were often so fixed on you so fixed on you as you made that Journey behind the vehicle is it a blur uh is it acute were you able to to take any of it in uh no I think we took a lot of it in partly because we knew the route and I did actually spot people I knew on the way it was such an impressive site and it was more than that because it was really touching in the way that people responded and how they did things and you know the people brought their ponies and horses out but they not only brought them out they'd platted them they were properly addressed it well turned out they brought their tractors out and they parked them you know tidally they're all clean and if you come from a rural background I was really impressed you know it was just an astonishing sight but the sheer numbers of people turned up in quite extraordinary places okay you were never going to miss miss that and the atmosphere that it created leaving Balmoral is never easy but then it never has been and that was just as bad when I was living as a child what why didn't like leaving you were happy there yeah and and your mother the queen was obviously very happy there was it's very much a place which I think always fitted in that time of the year there was a real relaxation relaxation rarely a concept associated with the late queen or the 72 year old Princess Anne for a few years running she's officially been declared the hardest working Royal 214 appearances last year alone it's been fascinating from our perspective to to get a glimpse into your schedule trying to navigate a place for this and it it genuinely seems program sometimes to the minute and is is that is that by Design is that duty is that desire oh it's a mixture I think it's certainly by Design uh because it's really the only way to organize your life so covid must have been a terrible block for that kind of work a block certainly from well from everybody's perspective but it was intriguing to note how people there was the word they kept using here pivoted so they pivoted using either the strengths of what they did before to deliver it slightly differently we sometimes at home talk about covert as a thief in that store from a lot of people did it did it steal from you um in some respects um I suppose I I tend to think it it stole a bit from my father who you know lost a lot of the people who would have gone to see him and talk to him and you know have those conversations that kept him interested and he lost he lost all of that [Music] I'm sure there are lots of families that will tell you the same thing that for the older generation losing those contacts those the ability to you know online didn't do it for everybody I mean I'm sorry to bring it up but I think of that that image of of your mother the Queen by herself yes that was a thief yeah yeah you're quite right and then in some ways I'm glad we didn't see that at that moment and then when you see the photograph it's much worse from her yeah and you saw more of that than we did accompanying the coffin it was the covid restrictions that imposed that solitary grief on the queen in April of 2021 at the funeral of her husband of seven decades Prince Philip [Music] his death seemed to begin a chain of momentous Royal events all within 18 months some wrenching lows for the family but also a moment unlike any other in British history the Queen's Platinum Jubilee [Music] the feeling was extraordinary it was loud it was raucous but in the crowd you kept hearing people saying thank you man thank you yes and I I wondered then did your mother the queen know that they were saying thank you did she did she feel that gratitude um I suspect she would have she would have noticed did she have fun yes I think it's quite a long weekend for that yeah to be done as fun but I think when she came at the end I think she realized that everybody had appreciated it that really made a difference but that as it were was then this almost seems like another era it's a moment when feelings about the monarchy are hardening and don't think the members of the royal family don't notice when we come back are there conversations about relevance there will be everywhere it's not a conversation that I would necessarily have I think it's in it perfectly true that it it is a moment where you need to have that discussion in the fairy tale story of kings and princesses there are facts hard ones including the reality that the global relationship with the British royal family is frankly shifting there are countries all over this planet that want to sever their ties with the British royal family they do not want the Monarch as head of state this is not something the royal family is oblivious to there is a growing movement in the UK and Canada protesting the place of the British Monarchy holes in both countries suggest young people in particular are cooling sixty percent of Canadians regardless of their age suggesting they don't support Charles as king because we're in this moment of transition I think it's it's not unnatural that people are having conversations about the monarchy and the place of the monarchy uh in in various countries Canada included and some of the recent polling is is suggesting that there is a drop in in the percentage of people who would like to see the monarchy continue how do you how do you deal with that as a family well we don't um in many respects need to deal with it and not least of all because um it is the monarch that is the key to this and the Constitution um that underpins the monarchy we as a family see ourselves theirs is to support that role what we do we hope contributes to the monarchy and the way in which it can convey continuity of not just interest but of service of understanding the way that people in communities want to live their lives and I think so often we get the chance to see communities and the people who do things really well and are very generous with their time in a way that if you look at the media you tend not to get that impression are there conversations about relevance there will be everywhere it's not a conversation that I would necessarily have I think it's in it perfectly true that it it is a moment where you need to have that discussion but I would just underline the that the monarchy provides with the Constitution a degree of long term stability that it's actually quite hard to come by any other way and and when we think about this this duty this role that the King has taken on what kind of King do you think he'll be well you know you're getting because he's been practicing for a bit and I don't think he'll change you know he is committed to his his own level of service that will remain true his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales tangibly though what will he do what steps will be taken I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary Association run deep into the most painful period of our history I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow are the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact there are some indications he is conscious of the wrongs and ways royal family haven't seemed to express before the king making a move after weeks of searing coverage in the UK about the monarchy's ties to slavery hardly a new subject but the response from the palace was new Buckingham Palace says it's cooperating with an independent study into the links between the British Monarchy and the slave trade in the 17th and 18 centuries he did something interesting not long ago offering tacit support to the research into the ties of Slavery to the monarchy he just opened he said absolutely have a look well you know more than I do because I rather suspect that is the media's interpretation of that particular deal what's yours who came up with that idea do is there a different sense do you have it's not really a subject conversation that I would even go down um a historical perspective which is slightly different um maybe more realistic and witches no the historical perspective it just goes back a lot further and the modern contexts are very different slavery hasn't gone away no come on don't be too focused on time scales and periods history isn't like that recognizing the British monarchy's place in colonization in slavery will be one thing for the institution but acting on it finding A New Path forward that would take generations of work when we come back the ultimate Insider's view of the state of the monarchy you don't sound worried about the health or the longevity of the monarchy I think nobody was into my mouth as they say [Music] for an institution and family so steeped in Tradition change is coming regardless of whether they want it the mood in the UK seems more cautious than celebratory and then there's Canada the ties of the royal family are very strong Princess Anne has visited the country more than 20 times she is on her way back again what keeps her coming back what are her thoughts about the future relationship between Canada and Crown a swing through the cbc's archives unearths a treasure Trove of Royal footage so many trips over the decades and it appears that so much effort went into making those trips feel informal have a look at this Yellowknife barbecue in 1970. the thick crowds should just watch her eat a hamburger the opportunity to meet many Canadians and that is what has been such a pleasure my links to this land and its people run deep Princess Anne appears seemingly everywhere in the North in big cities and most notably as an Olympian the Montreal Olympics in 1976 Princess Anne this afternoon at the equestrian events and the goal is Anne's ambition every athlete that I've ever spoken with at the Olympics always says that for all the training they do for everything they know that's about to happen the Olympics experience changes them that's probably true um but it's a different competition because so often with your own national championships or anything else you're in and out you know you come in you do your competition and you leave you go to the Olympics there's more time on your hands and it's quite a different discipline for some people and not all of them cope with their training regime in the same way when they've got that kind of time available so yeah it does change you a bit because you've you have to be able to adapt to be able to Coop I think rain overnight in Montreal very slippery out there there it is that's the fall your injury or your fall in Montreal do you do you remember much of it I mean you really don't well I don't I don't remember barely remember starting I certainly don't remember finishing so um and I don't remember the fall and have oddly enough until I saw the video afterwards that was which was really quite interesting must have been very strange to see it not having remembered it it was quite strange um I think the horse did a very good job in staying upright um because he although he fell he didn't roll over which would have been much more painful but there was a fence after I got back on again where he put his foot down between um the takeoff and the and the fence itself and I thought that could have been much nastier but no I don't remember but she's a Plucky one and she's back up again that memory may not exist but there are other trips to draw from Decades of handshakes and cookouts and endless photographs and soon she'll be back for her first trip to Canada since covid hit a short one to honor a long connection with the eighth Canadian hussars she became their colonel in Chief in 1972 has stood by them ever since she'll be back in New Brunswick for their 175th anniversary in May and aside from from this anniversary why this trip why right now well why this trip is it's 175th anniversary which is no mean achievement and although it isn't a regular regiment anymore all of that history is still there and it reflects an awful lot of the local community and it's still important that they support it as well because that is a skill set um a service ethos which you really didn't want to lose very it you know it's always going to be needed is there any time in the schedule for anything approximating rest not on this one no not on this one um and mine actually I have grandchildren who go to New Brunswick on holidays they know the beaches um they because they're really good beaches but no this time of year is too difficult really she is sometimes asked if she will retire anytime soon that seems entirely out of the question for Princess Anne she remains determined to serve and determine that serving matters the monarchy matters as people gather for the coronation is there something you you'd like them to hold as they as they watch what's happening something you'd like them to to think of you yes I mean I think there is that historical perspective um and it it's important now I think because so much of what we've seen here is very much in the now and maybe Fashions you know they have their place but long-term commitment has a lot going for it you don't sound worried about the health or the longevity of the monarchy um I think you're putting words into my mouth as they say are you then would you say that you are you aren't though I mean I am no I wouldn't I mean I just I because I believe that there is a genuine benefit from this particular arrangement um the constitutional monarchy and I think it has good long-term benefits and that commitment to long term is what the monarchy stands for Johannes thank you so much for your time well genuinely complicated [Music]

Channel: CBC News: The National

Views: 6,710,135

Keywords: Princess Anne, interview, coronation, King Charles, Charles coronation, royal family, British monarchy, British Royal Family, succession, monarchy traditions, ceremonial, protocol, Queen Elizabeth II, public service, philanthropy, humanitarianism, royal duties, royal engagements, St. James Palace, princess royal, British culture, fashion, lifestyle, history, monarchy transition, princess anne interview, Adrienne Arsenault, CBC, CBC News, The National

Id: rgb3sxJoZhM

Length: 24min 32sec (1472 seconds)

Published: Tue May 02 2023