A photograph taken over 70 years ago has resurfaced, showing Princess Anne embracing her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The image offers a rare glimpse of public affection from King Charles's sister, who is known for being a reserved, no-nonsense royal.
The black and white photo captures then four-year-old Anne greeting her grandmother on November 24, 1954, after the Queen Mother returned to the UK following a tour of Canada. The image was among those recently re-published by Hello! magazine.
Welcome Party at Waterloo Station
Princess Anne was part of the welcoming party greeting the Queen Mother at Waterloo Station. The then Prince Charles can also be seen in the photo, along with the late Queen, Prince Philip, Sir Winston Churchill, who was prime minister at the time, and then foreign secretary, Anthony Eden.
Another photo marking the occasion shows Charles hugging his grandmother, who is pictured bending down with the then future king's arms around her as they are reunited at London Waterloo Station.
Journey to Clarence House
From there, the royals were pictured in a carriage drawn by horses through streets lined with welcoming crowds as the Queen Mother, Elizabeth II, Charles and Anne traveled to Clarence House, where the late Queen's mother lived from 1953.
Anne, now 76, has spoken previously about how royal rules and customs have changed over the decades. She told ITV in 2018 that royals used to never shake hands with the public, telling the broadcaster that the idea was that it wasn't possible to greet everyone in that way.
Changing Royal Customs
The Princess Royal said: "So I kind of stick with that... I think that the initial concept was that it was patently absurd to start shaking hands."
"And it seems to me that it's become a shaking hands exercise rather than a walkabout... So that has changed."
Other changes include how royal fans interact with the Windsors, particularly with the rise of smartphones and phone cameras. Anne has described phones and iPads getting between royals and well-wishers, telling ITV it was "weird" so many people wanted to take photos.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2020, Anne described herself as a "dinosaur" when talking about tech and being a hands-on grandmother. Anne told the publication: "I find it very difficult to understand why anybody gets sucked into screens and devices. Life's too short, frankly."
She said there are more entertaining things to do, adding: "I suppose that puts me in the real dinosaur range."
