Touching moments that show Princess Anne’s soft side – from supporting Mike Tindall’s ‘struggling’ father to ‘doting’ on her grandchildren – after Earl Spencer claimed she made him feel ‘small’

She’s widely adored for her no-nonsense attitude, quick wit and dedication to The Firm. But Earl Spencer has painted Princess Anne in a very different light in his new memoir. 

While King Charles takes the most heat in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, the Princess Royal also caught some crossfire in his controversial retelling, which was released ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year. 

‘Lord Spencer does like to lob a casual potshot into a story,’ royal biographer Robert Hardman noted, reacting to the Earl’s claim that Anne shut him down during a formal meal at Buckingham Palace two days before Diana’s wedding to Charles. 

Earl Spencer wrote he left the dinner feeling incredibly ‘small’ after Princess Anne dismissed his question about Zara Tindall’s christening in 1981. He claims: ‘She stopped, looked at me witheringly, and asked, “Tell me, how’s a christening supposed to go?”.’ But royal fans might find this account difficult to digest. 

Practical and reserved as she might be, Princess Anne also has a softer side as a doting grandmother, compassionate friend and fun-loving royal with a unique sense of humour.

As Hardman declared, recollections about Princess Anne’s demeanour will certainly ‘vary’ from the Earl’s unflattering account – especially where the second-busiest royal has shown just how sweet she can be. 

Princess Anne will likely have been a pillar of support for her son-in-law, former England rugby star Mike Tindall, after the death of his father Phil at 80. 

Phil lived with Parkinson’s for more than 20 years, a condition Mike has called ‘brutal’. A poignant photo from Mike and Zara’s 2011 wedding shows Anne, in a pleated skirt and embroidered jacket, guiding Phil, then 65, through the venue. 

‘He was really struggling at our wedding and had an operation on his spine just afterwards,’ Mike told The Sunday Times in 2020. 

And earlier this year, it was reported that Princess Anne welcomed her newest step-granddaughter, 13-year-old Georgina, into the family ‘with open arms’ after her son Peter’s wedding to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling. 

According to a well-placed source, Anne has embraced Georgina’s arrival, describing Anne as an ‘amazing mother and grandmother’ with a natural talent for making people feel at ease, much like her late mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Georgina is stepsister to Peter’s daughters Savannah, 15, and Isla, 14, joining a growing brood of grandchildren all part of Anne’s close-knit family at Gatcombe Park.

Both Peter and Zara live close to their mother on her 700-acre Gloucestershire estate, meaning Anne can see her grandchildren regularly during the rare gaps in her packed schedule.

Mr Hardman has previously said that Anne’s relationship with the younger members of her family is ‘very normal’ and that she ‘dotes’ on them. 

‘It’s very normal; there isn’t any standing on ceremony, and she’s the only one with a title,’ the royal author said. ‘She’s a very good grandmother. She’s hands-on, but like all grandchildren, I think they can get away with things. She dotes on them.’ 

‘She adores them, and it’s touching to see her with her grandchildren at horse trials, showing them things and looking relaxed in her jeans,’ the late Queen’s former aide, Ailsa Anderson, added in an interview with Hello! magazine. 

Anne is similarly sentimental about her mother and shared a special relationship with the late Queen, remaining by her side during her final hours on September 8, 2022. 

Despite her profound grief, Anne greeted mourners in Balmoral with a warm smile, thanking them for their flowers, and comforted grieving children in an extraordinary display of her sensitive side. 

Any suggestion that the Princess Royal is not affectionate was put to bed after an old clip of her and daughter Zara Tindall was recently posted online.

Social media users were reacting to archival footage of Anne’s emotional hug with Zara, then 24, after she was crowned European Eventing Champion at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire 20 years ago.

After Zara galloped to victory during the cross-country event, Anne, then 55, who is typically guarded, became visibly emotional.

The Princess Royal, who was dressed in a brown coat, rushed to give Zara a warm embrace in a public gesture rarely seen before.

Anne, who also won gold at the European Eventing Championships in 1971, was every bit the ‘proud mother’ as Zara bent forward to receive her gold medal in what she has since described as a ‘fairytale’.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that, until this moment, Princess Anne was perceived as ‘severe and imperious’ while recalling how she told reporters to ‘naff off’ when they photographed her after she fell from her horse in 1982.

This was what made the ‘sheer, undiluted joy’ of her and Zara’s hug ‘a delight to watch,’ he continued. Describing Anne’s reaction as ‘pleasure unalloyed,’ Mr Fitzwilliams said: ‘What was significant, and softened Princess Anne’s image, was when the public saw them rejoicing together and hugging each other, and therefore could rejoice with them all the more.’

More than two decades after it was filmed, the clip has left royal fans delighted as they gushed about what an ‘amazing mother’ Princess Anne is, while celebrating her ‘special bond’ with Zara.

‘I was always under the impression that Princess Anne said she wasn’t maternal,’ one comment on TikTok read. ‘What an amazing mom she made.’

‘[Anne] seems to be such an affectionate mum,’ another social media user wrote. 

If royal fans were surprised to see Anne doling hugs out to her daughter publicly, it was nothing compared to their reaction when the typically reserved Anne embraced the captain of the Scottish rugby team on camera after a humourous exchange over the course of this year. 

The Princess Royal, who is patron of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), was captured warmly embracing Sione Tuipulotu following Scotland’s Six Nations final fixture against Ireland on March 14.  

In response to the sweet clip, droves of fans on X praised Anne for being ‘so human and brilliant’, with one user adding: ‘She seems like such a down-to-earth royal.’

‘He’ll cherish that hug,’ noted one commenter and remarked: ‘Anne looks really happy.’

‘Honestly, who doesn’t love Princess Anne,’ added another, while one onlooker fondly described the Princess Royal as a ‘great ambassador of Scottish Rugby’.

The heartwarming moment came after the 29-year-old sportsman first tried – and failed – to embrace Anne while celebrating the nation’s victory against England in the Calcutta Cup. 

In line with royal protocol, the princess stepped back and placed her hand on his shoulder before engaging in jovial conversation with the rugby star. 

Then, a few weeks later, Anne and the rugby player shared another touching moment when the princess handed him the Auld Alliance Trophy following their win against France. 

In a lighthearted reference to their previous near-hug moment, they both mirrored each other by opening their arms in jest – delighting royal fans who praised Anne’s ‘fun’ and ‘wonderful’ nature.

Yet for Scotland’s final match of the tournament, Anne momentarily sidestepped royal protocol, as seen in ‘lovely’ footage of the pair shared by Scottish Rugby that was captioned ‘Sione finally gets his hug.’

It’s a far cry from the ‘withering’ comment Earl Spencer recalls, but he eventually admitted Anne’s ‘hard work as the royal patron of good causes won through’.