History Rewind: Happy Birthday Princess Anne!

<![CDATA[Today in 1950 Princess Anne, the second child to the then Princess Elizabeth, was born in Clarence House at 11:50am.
Princess Anne, who today is recognised across the world as a shining example of Royalty putting in hard graft and work, was baptised later on 21 October 1950 in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace. Her Godparents were: Queen Elizabeth (her maternal Grandmother), Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark (her paternal Grandmother), Earl Mountbatten of Burma (paternal great uncle) and Margarita of Greece and Denmark (the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister).

In 1948 the King, George VI, had altered the Letters Patent drafted by his father, George V, so that any child of Princess Elizabeth would be styled “Royal Highness” as opposed to the courtesy title of “Lady Anne Mountbatten” which is how she would have been styled otherwise.
Anne is considered as one of the more “down-to-earth” Royals and is often seen as one of the hardest working. Last year she completed 432 engagements, only being beaten by her brother, the Prince of Wales. Her official duties started at the time she left secondary school, accompanying her parents on a state visit to Austria. But perhaps her strongest moment was in 1974 in the attempted kidnapping of the Princess. On returning from a charitable event on Pall Mall, Anne’s car was stopped by assailant Ian Ball. Ian shot and wounded Anne’s protection officer and driver. On attempting to remove Anne from the car, he was met by a hostile princess who responded with “Not bloody likely!” and, in her own words, considered hitting Mr Ball.
So Happy Birthday Princess Anne! You’re one of my favourites!
Photo credit: 4 Cdn Div/4 Div CA – JTFC/FOIC  via photopin cc]]>