Royals and rifts seem to have become the order of the day. While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fallout with the royal family has led the tabloids for years, Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, who recently marked her birthday, once had a more major beef. However, things smoothened out between the duo over time, with the Princess Royal becoming a supportive presence in her brother’s reign as the British monarch.
Princess Anne, who turned 74 on Thursday, August 15, received a ton of well wishes from royal fans, and family. King Charles led the birthday outpouring to his sister, sharing a tribute on X alongside photos of the princess captioned,
“Wishing the Princess Royal a very Happy Birthday today!”
Some of the birthday photos showed Princess Anne and King Charles together, spotlighting their closeness. Their bond has stood the test of time, surviving even a familial rift between the Princess Royal and sister-in-law Camilla.
Author Angela Levin discussed this royal tension in her book, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Future Queen Consort. In the book published in 2022, the author claimed their feud became so great that Princess Anne opposed the idea of Camilla ever becoming Queen Consort, per Mirror. In fact, she once predicted that “Camilla will never be a true Queen,” Angela wrote in her book.
The author traced this bad blood between the two women to their romantic history. She revealed how Princess Anne once dated Andrew Parker-Bowles back in the 70s, even before his shortlived marriage to Camilla. Additionally, the Queen consort had a hard time breaking through the Princess’ shell, as she, like most, “found her frosty demeanor difficult and unnerving” at first. The two eventually worked things out thanks to the healing hands of “time.”
Princess Anne and Queen Camilla have since moved past their differences, with Anne’s opinion of the Queen becoming more positive. While this rift between the duo may have thrived during the early stages of Camilla’s life as a royal, these days, it’s become shrouded by Prince Harry’s feud with his dad and the royal family.
