The Princess Royal has paid tribute to her mother and said it had been ‘an honour and a privilege’ to accompany the Queen on her final journeys as she travelled with the monarch’s coffin back to London.
Princess Anne, the late monarch’s only daughter, told how she was ‘fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life’.
She said the love and respect shown to the Queen on her journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh and onto London had been ‘both humbling and uplifting’.
Anne also thanked the nation for the ‘support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles’ as he takes on his duties as King.
She ended her statement with the words: ‘To my mother, The Queen, thank you.’
Her tribute was shared to the Royal Family’s Instagram account along with a photo of Anne and the Queen, which was first released to mark the late monarch’s 90th birthday in 2016. The mother and daughter posed on a sofa in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle
Princess Anne’s statement was shared to the Royal Family’s Instagram account along with the above photograph, which was first released to mark the late monarch’s 90th birthday in 2016. The mother and daughter posed on a sofa in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle
Statement: Princess Anne released this statement (pictured) today. She offered her ‘thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss’
The Princess Royal (pictured) paid tribute to her mother and said it had been ‘an honour and a privilege’ to accompany the Queen on her final journeys as she travelled with the monarch’s coffin back to London
The princess was in Scotland when the Queen was taken ill, and stayed at her bedside at Balmoral Castle, as senior royals rushed to say their final farewells.
Elizabeth II – the nation’s longest reigning monarch – died peacefully on Thursday September 8.
Anne has taken on the duty of accompanying her mother’s body back to London, with the Queen leaving Scotland for the last time bound for RAF Northolt on Tuesday.
The Queen’s oak coffin, accompanied by Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, travelled to Buckingham Palace where King Charles III, the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be waiting to receive it.
Princess Anne (pictured today with the Queen’s coffin), the late monarch’s only daughter, told how she was ‘fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life’
Anne (pictured at RAF Northolt in London) also thanked the nation for the ‘support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles’ as he takes on his duties as King
The royal (pictured with Timothy Laurence, left) was by her mother’s side throughout the last 24-hours of the monarch’s life, and today travelled with her casket from Scotland to London
Also there will be the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke of York, Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank, Zara and Mike Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn, and Princess Margaret’s children Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl Snowdon.
Anne’s full statement said: ‘I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life. It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys.
‘Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting.
‘We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.
The Princess Royal watches as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is taken to a hearse as it departs St Giles’ Cathedral
Princess Anne, Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence watch as pallbearers carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from St Giles’ Cathedral
The bearer party carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II to a hearse as they prepare to depart from St Giles Cathedral
Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence arrive at St Giles’ Cathedral
‘We may have been reminded how much of her presence and contribution to our national identity we took for granted.
‘I am also so grateful for the support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles as he accepts the added responsibilities of the monarch. To my mother, The Queen, thank you.’
The princess, who was with her mother leading up to her death, has also been beside her in the days since she died.
Last night, Anne made history when she became the first royal woman to take part in the ‘Vigil of Princes’ – standing vigil by her mother’s coffin alongside her brothers King Charles, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
During the 20-minute vigil at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Princess Anne, who wore her navy ceremonial uniform, kept her eyes fixed towards the floor.
From a chubby-cheeked baby in her mother’s arms to accompanying the Queen’s coffin on its final journey, photos capture the extraordinary bond between Princess Anne and her dear Mama
Since the Queen’s death on Thursday, the Princess Royal has taken on a leading roles in the processions as her mother’s coffin travels around the country.
Born in 1950, Princess Anne was the Queen’s second child and only daughter, and even went through a rebellious stage as a teenager, once telling photographers to ‘naff off.’ There were also flings, including a kiss and tell from her police bodyguard.
However the Princess Royal, who was renowned for being Prince Philip’s favourite child, became closer to the Queen. The monarch is understood to have come to rely heavily on Anne before her death.
Anne, who describes herself as ‘fuddy duddy’, is regarded by many as the hardest-working member of the royal family, having completed more than 20,000 engagements.
The experts believe that the Queen had given her daughter more and more responsibility as she was someone she could trust. She was similar to her father in character, with one biographer previously writing: ‘She gets on with it – she never complains.’
Strong and opinionated, she has a waspish wit and is a staunch believer in ‘The Firm’, saying of her mother: ‘She is remarkable.’
In a rare interview for a BBC1 documentary to mark the jubilee, she said it was ‘extraordinary’ for anybody to claim her mother has ever not cared about her children.
Anne said her mother was never uncaring, although protocol demanded that her children and grandchildren have to bow or curtsey to her and she spent a lot of time apart from them.
In the interview, Anne explained: ‘I simply don’t believe there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that she wasn’t caring. It just beggars belief.’
She added: ‘I don’t believe any of us for a second thought that she didn’t care for us in exactly the same way as any other mother did. I just think it extraordinary that anybody could construe that that might not be true.’
The princess said she does not understand people who ask her if she sees the Queen as her mother or as a monarch: ‘She’s my mother and the Queen.’
Shortly before the news of the Queen’s death was announced, the Princess Royal joined other members of the royal family in travelling to Balmoral to be with her mother. It was only she and Prince Charles who were by her side by she died.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the incredible bond between the Queen and Princess Anne.
Since the Queen’s death on Thursday, the Princess Royal has taken on a leading roles in the processions as her mother’s coffin travels around the country before Her late Majesty lies in state in London ahead of the funeral on Monday. Here FEMAIL reveals the two women’s extraordinary bond in pictures (pictured, Princess Elizabeth with her two children, Princess Anne and Prince Charles in 1950)
Princess Anne in the arms of Princess Elizabeth, with the Duke of Edinburgh, holding Prince Charles, in the grounds of Clarence House, their London residence in 1951
A happy and colourful family portrait. The Queen, still Princess Elizabeth then, with her two eldest children enjoying a relaxed moment in the photography session with Marcus Adams in 1954
Princess Anne, then 10-years-old, pictured cuddling her mother in a picture from March 1960, seven years after the Queen’s coronation
Family day out: Pictured from left, Queen Elizabeth II, baby Prince Edward, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh, in the gardens of Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire, as they celebrate the Queen’s 39th birthday on April 21, 1965. The same pram was used to ferry the Queen’s great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte to her christening
The Queen (right) is pictured with her daughter Princess Anne, followed by the Queen Mother at the Ascot races in 1970. The races would become a passion for both women to enjoy together
Princess Anne (left) and the Queen boarding a VC-10 airliner at Heathrow Airport, London, at the start of a two-month royal tour of Australia and New Zealand, 2nd March 197
The Queen presented the Raleigh trophy to her daughter Princess Anne, winner of the individual European three-day event at Burghley, Lincolnshire, 6th September 1971
Princess Anne at the wedding to her first husband Captain Mark Philips in 1973. The couple later went on to get divorced (pictured)
Ceremony: The Queen and Princess Anne in Buckingham Palace on November 26, 1974, with some of the heroes being decorated after helping Anne during an attempt to kidnap her as she was driven back to the Palace along Pall Mall. When armed kidnapper Ian Ball, who was going to demand £3million for her release, instructed Anne to get out of the car, she retorted that his plot was not ‘bloody likely’ to work
The Queen with Princess Anne and her first grandchild, Peter Phillips, pose for a photograph on November 20, 1977 at Balmoral
Princess Anne makes her parents the Queen and Prince Philip laugh by miming a drink to her parents at the Derby in Epsom 1982
In August 1983, the Queen and her daughter Princess Anne were matching in their blue outfits as they holidayed in Balmoral (pictured)
Princess Anne and her mother shared a smile as the Queen addressed a party at Windsor Castle, England, in November 2000, held in honor of her daughter, right, and attended by guests from charities and organisations for which the Princess worked
The Princess Royal and her mother shared a laugh with one another in 2007 as they arrived to inspect vintage vehicles at an event at Buckingham Palace
Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne watched as the Queen cuts a Women’s Institute Celebrating 100 Years cake, at the centenary annual meeting of The National Federation Of Women’s Institute, at the Royal Albert Hall
Princess Anne shared a laugh with her brother King Charles and the Queen while attending the 2018 Braemar Highland Gathering at The Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park
The Royal Ascot was among the highlights of the royal calendar for both the Queen and her daughter, the Princess Royal – and they often attended the event together (pictured in June 20, 2019)
The Queen and Princess Royal shared a moment together at Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding at St.George’s Chapel, Windsor in May 2019
The Princess Royal attended many events with the Queen in the monarch’s final years, including a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in London to mark the Centenary of the Royal British Legion in October 2021. It marked the first time the Queen had been seen carrying her cane in public
The Princess Royal stood alongside her brother, then Prince Charles, her sister-in-law Camilla and her own husband Sir Tim Laurence as they joined the Queen at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip in March 2022
The Queen’s final ever public engagement was a joint visit with Princess Anne to a hospice in Maidenhead in July 2022 (pictured, together during the visit)
King Charles III, Queen Camilla and Anne, Princess Royal attend a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles’ Cathedral
The Princess Royal and Tim Laurence travelledfrom the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, Tuesday, for a prayer service for the Queen
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