Princess Anne says King Charles III 'committed to his own level of service'

Princess Anne gets candid about what the British public can expect from King Charles III's reign in an interview set to release ahead of the coronation on Saturday, May 6.

The Princess Royal said there should be no surprises when her older brother officially becomes the monarch because he has been preparing for it all his life. She told Adrienne Arsenault, chief correspondent of CBC News, during an interview at St. James Palace in London, "Well, you know what you're getting because he's been practising for a bit, and I don't think he'll change. You know, he is committed to his own level of service, and that will remain true."

In the interview, Princess Anne also shared her thoughts about the coronation and how the royal family will need to "shift" its support from Queen Elizabeth II to King Charles III.

"My mother was the Queen for a very long time. And although you kind of know that this might happen, you don't really think about it very much — not least of all because the monarchy is about continuity," she explained adding that there was order during Her Majesty's reign from 1952 to September 2022, because she "didn't change very much."

"For the rest of us, it's more a question of, OK, we have to shift the way we support. And that's what we need to do."

But things are bound to change under King Charles III's reign with speculations that he plans to have a "slimmed down" monarchy and cut back on royal staffing. Speaking about these claims, Princess Anne 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."

In the same interview, the princess also shared her thoughts about the dwindling support for the monarchy and how the royals deal with it. She acknowledged that there are conversations about its relevance but it is not a conversation that she would necessarily have.

She thinks "it's perfectly true that it is a moment when you need to have that discussion" but she reasoned, "I would just underline that the monarchy provides with the constitution a degree of long-term stability that is actually quite hard to come by any other way."

She also said the royal family does not, "in many respects need to deal" with the people who want to see the monarchy go away. She explained, "It is the monarch that is the key to this. And the constitution that underpins the monarchy. We, as a family, see ourselves there to support that role. What we do, we hope, contributes to the monarchy in the way which it can convey continuity, of not just interest but of service, of understanding, the way that people of communities want to live their life."

Princess Anne said the "monarchy provides an element of a focus to that level of service and encourages that in the long term. It's not a short-term thing. You're there for the long term."

King Charles III will be formally crowned monarch alongside his wife, Queen Consort Camilla in front of 2,000 guests in a ceremony officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in London's Westminster Abbey. Princess Anne has been given the prestigious role of the Gold-Stick-in-Waiting, which will see her travelling on horseback behind the newly crowned King and Queen. In the past, the role equates to being the monarch's bodyguard or the "close protection officer" although now it is largely a ceremonial role. The princess said yes to it because it at least solves her dress problem.