Anne’s nine-word response moments before she saw Charles as he became King

12 January 2024 , 19:55

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Princess Anne on September 10, 2022 (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

As Princess Anne awaited her brother’s arrival around an hour before their mother’s death, a kind member of staff broke protocol and offered her a hug says a new book.

The Princess Royal was with the Queen in September 2022 at Balmoral when it became clear the monarch’s health was failing. The then Prince Charles rushed to be by her side and his sister waited patiently outside the Scottish castle for his arrival. New book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, by Robert Hardman, claims as she waited for Charles’ car to arrive a senior member of staff offered her a hug as she was visibly upset.

Serialised in the MailOnline, Hardman wrote: “She smiled wryly and said, in typical no-nonsense style 'That is the last time that's going to happen.'”

Princess Anne remained by the side of her dear mother for her final 24 hours at Balmoral and the Queen’s death certificate showed Anne was named as the "informant" on the document and would have notified the local registrar of the death. She said in a statement at the time: “I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother's life.

King Charles with Princess Anne (Getty Images)

"It has been an honour 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. We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and everyone who shares our sense of loss. We may have been reminded how much of her presence and contribution to our national identity we took for granted."

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The former monarch's daughter opened up about Elizabeth II's final days and her death in a documentary last month about her brother King Charles, which charted the first year of his reign. In one poignant part of her interview, Anne talks about her mother's funeral and the historic committal service at St George's Chapel in Windsor. Near the end of the poignant ceremony, Crown Jeweller Mark Appleby removed the Imperial State Crown, spectre and orb from the top of the Queen's coffin before it was lowered into the royal vault as the Royal Family watched on.

Anne told the documentary: "My mother's funeral in St George's, he takes the crown off the coffin – I rather weirdly felt a sense of relief, somehow that's it, finished. That responsibility being moved on."

Antony Clements-Thrower