Three weekends ago, Princess Anne tangled with a horse and the horse won. She was walking alone on her estate, Gatcombe Park, when something happened with a horse. Anne’s family likely found her unconscious on the ground, bleeding from a significant head injury. She spent five days and nights in the hospital and she’s been resting and recuperating at home ever since. But on Friday, Anne finally did a public event. Now we know why they had to hide her away for weeks too – she had significant bruising and probably a lot of swelling on her face. You can still see the bruising too – she probably had two black eyes, at least that’s what it looks like to me. Poor Anne.
Princess Anne is speaking out about her health for the first time since she sustained a concussion and minor injuries in a horse-related incident at her country home.
On July 12, the Princess Royal, 73, marked her return to royal duties, making her first public appearance since she was hospitalized last month.
During her visit to the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, Anne shared that she “can’t remember a single thing” about the incident, which is believed to have been caused by an impact from a horse’s head or legs.
Helena Vega Lozano, chair of RDA UK, shared that as soon as Anne exited the car, she stated, “I can’t remember a single thing about it,” reported the Daily Mail.
Despite her recent health setback, King Charles’ sister appeared to be in her element in the equestrian setting, where she joined RDA supporters in the arena, presented awards and met winners.
I remember there was one point, circa 2020, where Queen Elizabeth II suddenly looked and seemed quite frail and there was no going back. That’s sort of what this feels like too – all of a sudden, Anne seems mortal and she seems a bit unsteady. They let her sit down for part of this event too, which is nice. I wonder if her memory loss is much more significant than not remembering what happened to her. In any case, I predict that Anne’s schedule will be whittled down for the next three months or so until they figure out if there’s been any lasting damage.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Princess Royal during a visit to the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire Featuring: Anne, Princess Royal Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jul 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess Royal during a visit to the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire Featuring: Anne, Princess Royal Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jul 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess Royal during a visit to the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire Featuring: Anne, Princess Royal Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jul 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess Royal during a visit to the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire Featuring: Anne, Princess Royal Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jul 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess Royal and RDA UK Chair Helena Vega Lozano during the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire Featuring: Anne, Princess Royal Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jul 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
She looks like Phillip in the seated picture
I think she looks a lot like the Duke of Kent, the Windsor genes ate strong
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Duke_of_Kent_(cropped).jpg
She has always been very much her father’s daughter.
And she would have made a better queen than her brother has been a king. If Betty had only been petty enough to break with convention when she rewrote the succession and included her children’s generation as well as her great-grandchildren’s.
It wouldn’t have mattered: QEII changed the rule from male preference to absolute. Charles was still born first, so he would have always been the heir.
Nurse cardiac/srtoke here, agreed. At her age, very hard, if ever to be at 100% again
So we can be sure that at least she is his offspring.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her dress like this previously. She doesn’t look the same and I’m not talking about the bruising/makeup. She seems off. I hope she continues to recover quickly.
Yes, exactly. The power in a horse’s kick is massive, and even a bite or knock from their head has huge potential to hurt. My thought: she should’ve taken off a longer period of time. I’ve been badly injured by a horse. I used to ride etc but now don’t go through a field if there’s even just one in there. This causes problems, because we walk a lot in rural areas with the dogs. I create loops around them using different pathways. Not going anywhere near a horse ever again.
A friend’s son died from a horse kick. They got a medical helicopter to take him to hospital which was 100km away but he didn’t make it.
A close friend had a head injury from a minor fall. He’s never been the same. Heads are delicate. Look at Michael Schumacher.
I agree. She does look off. I hope this hasn’t permanently weakened her and she gets back to her normal self 100%.
After a head injury, concussion, at the age of 73, there is no longer a 100% to return to. There will always be residual symptoms,fatigue, unsteady gait, dizziness, vertigo, of varying intensity.
Is it me, or does she have a little facial drooping on one side? She definitely seems mortal at the moment. Delicate too. I have grudging respect for Anne because even though she’s just as out of touch with the rest of them, I admire her frankness and her dislike of dumb bs
I noticed some drooping as well. If there was massive swelling there could still be some excess skin that hasn’t gone down yet, but definitely something to look at in the next few pictures.
Cranial nerve damage can cause muscle laxity in the face, speech problems and impaired eye movement. She clearly has had a significant injury.
I can’t believe they are still making her work with a bruise no less. I am sure she wants to work, but they can say no. She really looks fragile.
Yes, she certainly does.
This. How does lazy-ass William see photos like these, and his father still working while being treated for cancer, and live with himself?
Non existent work ethic, he probably thinks they are mugs for doing so much. Doesn’t think how it reflects on him.
Zero self-reflection, that’s how.
Noone will call him nor Kate out…take responsibility since they’re supposed to be the future of the minor achy
All people are asking for is a bit more.
The Rebecca English lie of William and Kate was debunked at trooping the color so you obviously isn’t taking care of her
Queen Elizabeth worked up until two days before her death and kate can’t just do zooms for charities on her so-called good days or do Instagram photos about the charities and provide information
Noone is saying that she needs to do like she did poop previously which didn’t amount to anything anyway but both her and will can be doing more than simply cheering Anne as a superhero for coming back to duties while they’re still sitting down doing nothing
I wonder if she wanted to do the event. Anne does pride herself on her commitment to work. She might have also wanted to get out there and be seen. But hopefully this doesn’t mean she has to keep doing things. She really should take time off.
I’m sure she did, it’s close to home and involves horses plus she probably wants to remind herself that she can still get out and do things. I’m sure it was carefully planned and managed.
She might have felt bored and restless at home recovering. I wouldn’t be surprised if forced them to let her to work.
A Windsor who wants to work is more rare than a unicorn 🦄. They must take advantage, especially being shorthanded.
Isn’t it warm in the UK now? She looks like she’s dressed for the dead of winter. Gloves, a coat, and heavy boots. 🤔
I believe she has taken to wearing gloves because of all the hand shaking. It’s what her mum did.
…or because her hands have cuts and bruises.
I dress like this practically year round. I’m always cold, unless it’s hot summer weather and I’m in the sun. I get cold in the shade. She’s also elderly and injured.
@Brassy Rebel, it’s been a washed out summer so far. With rain and cool temperatures. I’ve had to get my light coat out as it can get chilly at times particularly when it’s raining.
Shes an older woman with little body fat so she might just feel the cold that little bit more. It’s not been overly warm, high teens low 20s Celsius not Fahrenheit (convert at your leisure) and I would assume coming from weeks of hospital care in warmer than usual surroundings might have altered her heat perception slightly. All that added up might just be why she’s dressed warmly.
Anne’s outfit plus the wedge suede boots on the woman with her made me double-check, it is high summer, right? Then I remembered. England. Oh. Of course.
She looked frail at the South Korean state visit last year. I don’t get why she felt she needed to be out there this week when clearly she’s still not fully recovered. Is it her eagerness to have the most engagements on the CC that’s forcing her out there?
She probably felt some sense of obligation to the organization. I don’t think many people force Anne to do anything.
The only person who could force Anne to do anything was her mother, the monarch. Her father probably had strong influence, but I doubt he could truly put his foot down in Elizabeth overruled.
Charles can’t even force Andrew to move out of Royal Lodge. I don’t think he can tell Anne a mfing thing. 😁
On social media, the Prince and Princess of Wales called Anne a “super trooper” and added it is “so great to see you back so soon.”
Ironic and so tone deaf but yet totally on brand!
They really left themselves open with that one. But they won’t be criticised by the BM
That was so stupid, I was sure it was fake news. I guess it wasn’t. By all means, when the effing septuagenarian gets kicked in the face by a horse and manages to return to work in 3 weeks, draw attention to your lazy ass that has “worked” twice in 2024 by calling the workhorse in the family “super trooper”. She’s not a flipping toddler, and she definitely doesn’t need the Wails as a cheering squad.
Resisting the urge to mix my metaphors about how this workhorse of the family is back in the saddle again! Anne is such a determined worker that I suspect it was 100% her choice to return to work. And advice for head injuries has changed; instead of extended bed rest they now encourage people to return to their usual routines as much as they are able, as soon as they can. There’s no guarantee what kind of long-term recovery she will have after a TBI, but seeing her out and about is good news.
Good for her, she doesn’t need her husband or her doctors to tell her she is fit for work, she will jolly well get on and do it. I do hope she will be OK, She’s the best of the ones over here even if she does have a sharp tongue.
Good Lord it looks like oneside of her face is a fading bruise, that is not a small injury
And they couldn’t even give her a good make up job. Like cover her entire face with make up not just the bruised area. She looks awful.
I think she is the sort of woman who wouldn’t be too bothered about what people think, she always dresses smartly and that’s it.
Anne doesn’t give a flying eff about makeup. And having someone rubbing makeup on a serious bruise like that serious would be painful.
I do hope she recovers fully. I also hope the the horse involved hasn’t been put down (if they even know which one it was)
Does anyone know for sure that there was a horse involved? Unwitnessed and she with no memory. Are there any alternate theories? Fainted? Accidentally fell or tripped? Assaulted?
She doesn’t know what happened and there was nobody else there so they are just guessing it was a horse. There is still time for the memory to come back.
Stop with the conspiracy theories already.
Is the Firm being complacent here? We have KC and Anne despite disease and injury being troupers whilst others skive off as usual. The contrast between the OAPs holding the fort and performing a variety of duties whereas the younger duo just showing up for fun and frolics in the shape of men’ sports finals, is blatant. Are KC and the Firm okay with the unfair division of “labour” and the poor optics ?
It doesn’t matter much what The Firm wants because the only way to get UnWilling to work is for Harry to do something first.
And why should Harry bother, they have done him no favours.
Harry doesn’t bother. Harry goes along in his life living his life as he wants, for once. It’s Huevo the Unwilling who exists purely in reactive form. If Harry does something as mundane as join his children’s school board (or equivalent) see Huevo become a huge education advocate (for 5 minutes and words only). It’s a sad way to live, but he deserves it and worse.
I wouldn’t agree that she is dressed “smartly”. Yes, she is usually put together well. But this outfit choice is unusual/odd for her.
I wonder if she has more, maybe minor, injuries. The going scenario is that she was kicked in the head by the horse. I imagine she went from a standing position to a laying down position quite fast as well so she have some injuries to whatever side/back she fell on when she hit the ground. I wonder if the looseness of the coat, gloves etc is to hide any splints/braces/wraps and other bruises?
I dislocated a shoulder at a concert, popped back in easily but it was sore for a couple of days with some bruising and I dressed accordingly for comfort and concealment (public facing job). Just a thought.
“panda eyes” aka “raccoon eyes” are a classic indication of skull fracture/bleeding.
this doesn’t look good for her at all.
I wonder what they’ve sent her out to distract from.
Poor Anne. As long as she wasn’t pushed out, I applaud her for getting out an about and not hiding her bruising. Lots of current concussion protocol is to get out and about as soon as you can. As long as it’s her choice, good on her. Wish her a full recovery
She should stay home. She is in her seventies and has suffered an injury that could cause death or life long damage to a healthy young person.
There is no reason for her to be working. I’m sure her patronage can manage just fine in her absence.
Good on her for getting out and about again .
She has always seemed a strong woman and she probably just wants to be out and about getting a bit of normality back in her life .
I am the same age as her and probably don’t think of myself as being elderly , adversity can knock you back and it would be easy to just sit back and become old and invisible .
It’s much better to push yourself and keep doing whatever you can do .
I don’t particularly like her, but I do admire her spirit .
My feeling too, don’t particularly like her but admire her spirit. And it’s time the media en-masse celebrated her and Charles’s work ethic and how they’re putting the younger royals to shame.
She probably wanted to do this event. But if the family really cared about her, they’d insist on her taking off more time — and then take over some of her events. But William is far too lazy.
Poor Anne. It just occurred to me that she of course has a work ethic, but that she needs to work.
I assume she was lying to cover for Kate. It’s good that she made an appearance. It serves as proof of life and proof of actual injury. Now, that it’s been cleared up she should rest for a few months. just light duties to keep her mind sharp. I wish her a speedy recovery because it does look like she really got hurt.
Why didn’t they cover the bruise properly with makeup? It’s like they did the side that WASN’T injured and left the injured side uncovered.
I believe she does have makeup on. You can see it’s a rather large bruise so she probably needs a specialized full coverage concealer to cover it. Knowing Anne she probably just used the concealer she already had on hand and didn’t want to bother with it.