As Princess Anne marks her milestone 75th birthday on August 15, royal watchers are reflecting on the substantial role she's played not just as a working royal, but within her own family—especially the bond she shared with her parents. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's only daughter has long been regarded as one of the most hard-working and no-nonsense members of the Royal Family. But behind her often steely (and superbly witty) exterior is a daughter who shared a particularly close relationship with her father, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Unlike her older brother King Charles, who was a sensitive and bookish child, the Princess Royal shared Prince Philip's brisk, outdoorsy spirit. As Majesty magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward wrote in a 2017 piece for the Daily Mail, "Single-minded, sporty and brave, Princess Anne is unafraid of controversy and cares little for the opinion of others. In other words, she is very much her father's daughter—in a way that Prince Charles can never be his father's son."
