In a rare televised interview, just before the Coronation, The Princess Royal spoke out on the future of the monarchy and raised questions about whether a ”slimmed down” monarchy could work.
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 just before the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
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, there are far fewer working royals than there were a decade ago.
The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra still carry out engagements but both are now in their late 80s and the number of duties they take on has, naturally, fallen slightly in past years.
The King and Queen carry out full public schedules right now, as do the Prince and Princess of Wales, The Princess Royal herself, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
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 some about 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.
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