Princess Anne has always been somewhat of a royal rebel — even for wearing the
wrong color lipstick! From makeup faux pas to how she sits in public,
these are all the protocols the Princess Royal has been caught breaking.
It is a royal tradition that the
sons and daughters of British princes and princesses should receive their own
titles. However, when Anne had her children, Zara and Peter Phillips,
she decided not to give them any titles. She told Vanity Fair in 2020:
"I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there
are downsides to having titles. So I think that was probably the right thing to do."
It's likely the queen would have offered titles to Anne for her two children at
the time of their birth. For instance, Anne's siblings' children all have titles
of their own. In fact, Peter was offered an earldom by the queen upon his marriage,
but he allegedly declined the offer. While this may not be a very big royal protocol to break,
it's definitely an example of Anne breaking with tradition and forging her own path.
"I like to ask people what they were expecting, see, before they met me."
Every teenager has a rebellious streak, but for Princess Anne, her teen rebellion was a little
more dramatic. As the royal revealed to The Australian Women's Weekly her first big battle
with royal protocol came during a royal visit to Australia. During the visit, the princess noticed
that women were treated very differently to men in relation to the queen. She recalled to the outlet,
"[W]hen I first went to Australia I found a difference, the men went down one end of
the room and the women went up the other. I didn't think that was entirely appropriate."
How did Anne fight these outdated, gendered traditions? Well, apparently,
she simply crossed the room and "annoyed" the men at their end of the room.
Princess Anne's desire for a normal life extended to every part of her
life — including her wardrobe. As a young woman, the princess used her fashion to make
bold statements about her approach to the monarchy — even if it meant breaking a few
age-old royal protocols. Her early outfits included tailored trousers, mini skirts,
and even pantsuits, all of which were considered inappropriate outfits for a
princess. As personal image consultant Georgia Michalopopoulou told Express,
"The traditional fashion and style protocols suggest that the female members of the Royal
Family shouldn't wear revealing cuts… Princess Anne was not afraid to wear mini skirts and
dresses in the 1970s, which went against those traditional royal fashion rules."
In fact, according to Michalopoloulou, Anne was far more daring with her fashion choices
than Kate Middleton is today. In another Express interview,
wedding dress designer Cynthia Grafton-Holt said that Anne's "overly simple" wedding
dress was another example of how she "opted to redefine" royal tradition.
In 2021, Princess Anne appeared on ITV after her father, Prince Phillip's death,
to discuss his life and passing. However, during the interview,
some fans noticed that she broke a famous royal protocol — she sat with
her legs crossed. We all remember that scene in The Princess Diaries when Julie Andrews'
Clarice tries to teach Anne Hathaway's Mia to sit like a princess, telling her,
"Princesses never cross their legs in public."
Well, it turns out, this is a real royal protocol! As etiquette expert Myka Meier told People in
2018, crossing your legs is one of the, quote, "biggest etiquette mistakes a lady can make."
One important royal protocol
is to never speak out about political matters. In fact,
the royal family's firm political neutrality goes back for generations. However, in 2021,
Princess Anne made the bold move to break from tradition and take an apparent political stance
on the UK's departure from the European Union — also known as Brexit. On the "Oxford Farming
Conference" podcast, the princess spoke up about how Brexit was affecting farmers. She said:
"Some are much better prepared than others. I have to say there are two major issues — Brexit,
and how people cope with that, if anybody has any
idea how it's going to impact them. For some it will be an opportunity."
While her comment wasn't overtly political, when Anne suggested that Brexit might be positive for
some farmers, some royal experts were quick to note that the comment broke protocol.
It should come as no great
surprise that having an affair is something of a faux pas in the royal family — just as it is in
most other families, too! As fans of The Crown may know, Princess Anne did have a pretty scandalous
affair back in the 1980s. While she was still married to Captain Mark Phillips, Anne allegedly
had an affair with Peter Cross, her personal bodyguard. Anne has never admitted to the affair,
but Cross has spoken up about what happened. According to Daily Mail, the bodyguard said,
"It was very affectionate. We got on fantastically, basically
because we're both straight-talking people who like to be down to earth."
The publication spoke to Cross' ex-wife, Gillian Nicholls, about the alleged affair. She claimed,
"His affair with her always overshadowed our
relationship. It always felt like she was there in the background."
While we may never know exactly what transpired between Anne and Cross,
it sounds like some major royal protocols might
have been broken when it comes to her relationship with her former bodyguard.
Princess Anne's father, Prince Philip, died in 2021 at the age of 99. At his funeral,
Anne ignored royal protocol and walked behind his coffin in the funeral procession — an honor
typically reserved for men. At the time of Philip's funeral, Anne wrote in a statement,
"I regard it as an honor and a privilege to have been asked to
follow in his footsteps and it has been a pleasure to have kept
him in touch with their activities. I know how much he meant to them."
Then, after the funeral, she sent monogrammed cards to thank those that had paid their
condolences. It wasn't the first or the last time Anne would break this particular royal protocol.
She also first took part in a royal funeral march in 2002 when she walked behind her grandmother,
the Queen Mother's coffin. She later appeared in Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession in 2022.
When it comes to royal funerals, there are quite a few rules and traditions that the family is
expected to follow. But, as always, Princess Anne loves to break protocols that feel just a
little too dated. IWhen Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, Anne decided to forgo tradition by wearing
her military uniform rather than dressing in black, which is traditional for royal women.
She also broke protocol by marching in the funeral procession alongside her
brothers and the other men in the family. In fact, she was the first woman to ever
march behind the coffin of a British monarch. Prior to the funeral march,
Anne stayed with the coffin as it traveled from Balmoral to London.
Although she was considered an unusual choice as a woman, the queen selected
her personally. According to Daily Mail, the princess released a statement saying,
"I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother's life. It has been an
honor and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys. Witnessing the love and
respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting."
While it probably comes as no great shock to hear that the royals are very particular about clothes,
you may not have realized that makeup is also subject to quite a few royal protocols,
too. In fact, Anne's statement of wearing bright red lipstick is actually a breach
of protocol. Apparently, bright lipstick is considered inappropriate by the royals. It
was tradition for the Queen to wear her own unique shade of pink lipstick — and
everyone else in the palace tried to opt for a more subtle color. However,
Anne has broken this unspoken lipstick rule on numerous occasions by donning bright red lipstick.
"She's not someone who takes herself too seriously."
Divorce hasn't always been allowed for the royals. In fact, until Henry
VIII divorced his wife Catherine in 1533, it was unheard of. Of course,
that was a pretty long time ago. Since then, there have been many royal divorces. Nevertheless,
within the royal family, divorce isn't exactly encouraged. While divorces are permitted,
remarrying after a divorce was not actually permitted by the Church of England until 2002.
Then, the church decided that under "exceptional circumstances," a divorced person could remarry.
Princess Anne, however, managed to break this protocol. After she and Mark Phillips
divorced in 1992, she fell in love with Timothy Laurence. Because of her divorce,
the pair ended up marrying in a Presbyterian church in Scotland where the rule didn't apply.
Anne's bold decision to remarry after her divorce may have helped to pave the
way for other future divorced royals to tie the knot. For example, her brother, Prince Charles,
remarried after his divorce from Princess Diana, when he tied the knot with Camilla
Parker-Bowles in 2005, and Prince Harry married the divorced Meghan Markle in 2018.
It goes without saying that the royals are
expected to abide by the law. In fact, breaking the law as a royal is the same as breaking one of
the most important royal rules. In 2001, Anne had her own small brush with the law. While driving in
Gloucestershire near her home, she was fined $570 for driving 93 miles per hour, far exceeding the
speed limit of 70 miles per hour. She also lost five points on her license after she
plead guilty to the charges. As Graham Sacker, Chairman of the Bench at Anne's trial noted,
"This was an offense of average seriousness by a person of high means."
The palace released a statement at the time, which read,
"The princess was keeping to a tight schedule ... she has admitted that she was speeding at the time
and she accepts that she is subject to the normal rule of the law and will be paying the fine."