Princess Anne and her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, naturally have much in common — for example, both are widely deemed to be hard-working and share a love of horse riding and equestrian events.
They do, however, appear to share some of the same dislikes as the Princess Royal has followed in her mother’s footsteps and has an aversion to Wimbledon, according to her official royal biographer.
Although the Queen was appointed patron of the popular tennis tournament in 1952, she only visited four times throughout her 70-year-long reign because she “disliked” the sport. Royal writer Teresa Paddington listed tennis among the Queen’s “dislikes” in her 2012 book The Elizabeth II Pocket Bible.
Likewise, respected royal biographer Brian Hoey, writing in his 2020 book Royalty Revealed: A Majestic Miscellany, wrote: “Tennis is not on the list of royal favourite sports.”
And it turns out the same can be said for her 72-year-old daughter who similarly has an aversion to it.
Mr Hoey, an author and journalist who has covered numerous royal events over the years and interviewed Princess Anne before becoming her biographer, wrote: “The Princess Royal is also not much of an enthusiast, saying that Wimbledon is too ‘cauldron-like’,” presumably referring to the shape of the stadium.
Instead, the Princess Royal is a keen rugby fan and has been patron of the Scottish Rugby Union since 1986.
While tennis may not be her favourite sport, Anne has attended SW19 over the years. In 1969, then aged 18, the Princess presented the winner Ann Jones with the women’s singles title after the English player beat Billie Jean King.
The Princess Royal’s own daughter Zara Tindall does not appear to have inherited her mother’s dislike of the sport as she has often been seen in the exclusive Royal Box. Just last year, she and her husband Mike Tindall were spotted enjoying the game from the stands.
Mr Hoey, who has written about the Royal Family for some four decades, made several other revelations in his book about the Princess Royal, including the fact that she “eats like a sparrow”.
He continued: “Food is a necessary evil in her view. She eats like a sparrow and one of her staff said, if she could take a pill instead of food, she would. However, she enjoys small, intimate dinner parties and guests at Gatcombe Park say she is a brilliant hostess.”
The mother of two, who is often dubbed the hardest-working royal as she frequently carries out the most royal engagements each year, is also incredibly independent.
He added: “She hates to be driven and insists on driving herself on practically all occasions. Her personal protection officers all know this and reluctantly they obey. They are soon made aware of her likes and dislikes.
“They know she does not care for small talk and that they must make sure CDs of her favourite music are available in her Bentley before they set off. She is not a great fan of classical music.”
Brian Hoey’s 2020 book Royalty Revealed: A Majestic Miscellany, published by Bitback Publishing, is available here.
