princess anne prince charles

Princess Anne's hilarious reaction as she is mistaken for Prince Charles!

It's not the first time the royal siblings have been mixed up!

Online Digital News Director
April 6, 2020

Princess Anne is not only one of the hardest working members of the royal family – she's also one of the funniest. The Princess Royal displayed her sense of humour when she was mistaken for her older brother Prince Charles at an official engagement, when she was introduced as Her Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales. As laughter broke out around the room, the smiling Princess could be seen looking incredulously at the speaker, David Bolton, before rolling her eyes at his mistake. "It's the excitement!" he tells the royal, who quickly retorts: "There's a worry!"

WATCH: Princess Anne is mistakenly called the Prince of Wales

Later on in the clip, Anne recounts another incident of mistaken identity, recalling an anecdote shared with her by Prince Charles. "My brother tells a story of having visited an elderly care home in Scotland, and at the time he was in a kilt. And he actually heard, when he was engaged in conversation down the other end, an old lady saying, 'Is that the Princess Royal?'" As the laughter starts to subside, she concludes: "Thought it was quite funny. And I am wearing trousers today!" The video was captured back in 2012, when Anne attended the Young Advocates for Agriculture debate.

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Princess Anne, 69, has long had a reputation for being one of the most down-to-earth – and unflappable – members of the royal family. She famously decided not to bestow royal titles on her children, Zara and Peter Phillips, in a bid to help them lead as normal lives as possible. And Anne has cemented her place as the hardest-working member of the royal family; in 2019 she racked up 137 official engagements, followed by older brother Prince Charles with 131.

The Princess Royal with her two children, Zara and Peter

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Anne's strong-minded personality has served her in good stead in the past. In 1974 she and her former husband Mark Phillips were caught up in a kidnapping attempt, when their car was intercepted on the Mall by a man with a gun. According to 2002 Channel 4 documentary, The Real Princess Anne, it was the Queen's daughter herself who scuppered his plan. Upon being told to get out the car by the gunman, she famously retorted: "Not bloody likely!"

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