Princess Anne covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair. While she did not pose for a Vanity Fair shoot, she did authorize this cover story and she gave Katie Nicholl an exclusive interview. But… but I thought no royal figure could do anything with magazines? No guest editing, no interviews, no glossy profiles? I guess it’s only against the rules when it’s Meghan. The VF cover story is to highlight Anne’s 70th birthday, which is coming up in August (she’s a Leo). Much of the piece is stuff we already know: Anne isn’t surrounded by “people,” she’s very normal, she does tons of events, she doesn’t have a stylist, she rewears clothes all the time, even if the pieces are decades old. She does her own makeup too and she’s “even known to fix her own tiara if necessary.” There’s one quote from Anne which is making the rounds, but the whole piece is worth a read – she’s an enjoyable character and arguably the least problematic of the Windsors. Some highlights:

She never eats while she’s working: “I think during the day, eating’s not really an issue.” An aide says she never stops for refreshments until her schedule is over.

On being caught on-camera enjoying a gossip session with world leaders dragging Donald Trump: “The princess was unhappy to be dragged into that particular story because she has always been careful not to be seen to be political in any way,” says a source. “She is also incredibly respectful, so any suggestion that she would laugh at anyone behind their backs was quite upsetting for her.”

On the youths: “I find it very difficult to understand why anybody gets sucked into screens and devices. Life’s too short, frankly. There’s more entertaining things to be done. I suppose that puts me in the real dinosaur range.”

Choosing to not give her children titles: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles. So I think that was probably the right thing to do.”

She had a happy time at boarding school, unlike Prince Charles: “My case was slightly different to my senior brother’s… I was ready to go to school. I had a governess and two friends and that was never going to be enough, really, so I was only too pleased to be sent off somewhere else. I think boarding school has been demonized by some when in fact it’s a very important aspect to have available and many children actually thrive in it. One of the other charities I got involved with was the Royal Wanstead Foundation, which is now the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation and takes children from chaotic homes and sends them to boarding schools. You only have to listen to them to realize that it’s absolutely transformed their lives.”

On fashion & buying British-made clothes: She says she recycles “because I’m quite mean. I still try and buy materials and have them made up because I just think that’s more fun. It also helps to support those who still manufacture in this country. We mustn’t forget we’ve got those skills, and there are still places that do a fantastic job. I very seldom buy anything which isn’t made in the U.K.,” she says, admitting a weakness for Harris Tweed. “It went through a phase when it was very fashionable. For me the point about it is that it looks exactly the same at the end of the day as it did at the beginning. Brilliant.”

If she wasn’t a princess, she would have liked to be an engineer. “The practicalities of how things work, I think, was always interesting as far as I was concerned. But I think it was a little bit early in the sort of scheme of things to have gone down that route.” Instead she has made a point of championing women in her role as patron of Women into Science and Engineering. “I’ve certainly enjoyed being part of trying to encourage more girls to look at engineering as a realistic career.”

A message to the younger royals: She worries that the younger generation of royals may be in too much of a hurry to change the royal family’s tried and tested approach when it comes to philanthropy. Describing herself as “the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back saying, ‘Don’t forget the basics.’ I don’t think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past and it’s often true, isn’t it? You don’t necessarily look at the previous generation and say, ‘Oh, you did that?’ Or, ‘You went there?’ Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh let’s do it a new way.’ And I’m already at the stage, ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’”

[From Vanity Fair]

Other items I couldn’t fit into these highlights: “She declines to identify herself as a feminist” and she is “deeply proud of her 50 years of work with Save the Children, for which she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.” I think the feminist thing is a mostly generational and royal thing. She’s a nearly 70-year-old princess who would have preferred being an equestrian and an engineer. Of course she has no “need” for feminism. As for her message to the younger royals… I saw on Twitter that some of the Sussex Squad thought Anne was directing the comments at Meghan and Harry. But… the first people I thought of were William and Kate. William spent years bitching and moaning about not wanting to do the same boring, day-in and day-out royal work as Anne’s generation. William is the one trying to reinvent the wheel so he can do less work and have fewer expectations placed on him. Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan would have been happy and eager to be the kind of working royals Anne speaks of. Only they were pushed out and exiled.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Vanity Fair.