In a rare televised interview, The Princess Royal has spoken on the future of the monarchy and what a slimmed-down royal family could look like.
Speaking to Adrienne Arsenault, the Chief Correspondent of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Princess Anne was asked a number of difficult questions in the interview which was broadcast on Tuesday ahead of the Coronation.
When asked whether a slimmed-down monarchy would actually work, Her Royal Highness said: “Well, I think the ‘slimmed down’ was said in a day when there were a few more people around… It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I would say. I’m not quite sure what else we can do.”
With The Duke and Duchess of Sussex no longer working royals, the Duke of York largely exiled from official royal events, and the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra of Kent, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester being of an advancing age, there are far fewer working royals than there were a decade ago.
The King and Queen carry out full public schedules right now, as does The Princess Royal, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. The Prince and Princess of Wales currently carry out fewer engagements while their children are still school-aged but are expected to increase their workload as Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis grow older.
Princess Anne emphasised that when those comments were made decades ago, there were several more full-time working royals to carry out engagements.
Arseneault asked Her Royal Highness several difficult questions in the interview, including the declining popularity of the monarchy in Canada, and elsewhere, and the news that The King has given his support for a study researching the British monarchy’s ties to the Atlantic slave trade.
