It's not often that you find yourself crossing paths with royalty while going about your morning routine. But when it does happen, it's bound to come as a shock. That was certainly the case for digital creator Finlay Jacobs, who did a double take after an unexpected encounter with Princess Anne while running in Scotland earlier this month.
Sharing the moment with his social media followers, the Scottish influencer recounted the incredible story, explaining how the late Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter pulled up alongside him in her Land Rover.
"I just went past this house, and this Land Rover pulls up as I'm running by, and this lady gets out. She goes, 'Hello', and I was like 'Hi,'" Finlay recalled.
© Finlay Jacobs / Instagram"I look again, and I'm like, it's Princess Anne, Princess Anne of Scotland, it's like, 'What the heck!'."
True to her no-nonsense and down-to-earth reputation, the Princess Royal offered a couple of words of encouragement to the stunned jogger. "She looks at me and goes, 'Keep going!'," Finlay explained.
© Getty ImagesSharing his shock, he continued: "What the heck. I wanted to stop for a photo or something, get her in the video.
"But I guess, I was like, I'll keep going because I'm not going to disturb her," he continued, adding: "She's obviously out here for privacy. But yeah, what a weird situation."
A summer at Balmoral
The Princess Royal is currently at Balmoral with her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence. The Scottish castle has served as the royal family's private summer retreat for years.
© Getty ImagesThe 50,000-acre estate is a favourite among the family, with the late Queen once describing it as a "paradise in the Highlands".
King Charles and Queen Camilla have also spent time at the private royal retreat this summer, while the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, stayed at the holiday home for a week before returning home on a commercial flight.
© Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty ImagesThe Balmoral estate holds a special place in Charles's heart as it's the home of his private bolthole, Birkhall, where he proposed to Camilla in 2005.
Located in Aberdeenshire, Balmoral features an impressive kitchen garden, a vegetable patch, a flower garden and a water garden, as well as a large conservatory with flowering pot plants displayed.
Princess Anne's Gatcombe home
When she's not enjoying summers in Scotland, Anne can usually be found at her Gloucestershire home, Gatcombe.
© Alamy Stock Photo"Gatcombe is her bolthole, where she is not the Princess Royal – she is Anne," Ailsa Anderson, a former communications secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, told HELLO!. "It's a lot less formal; she has Zara and Mike still living on the estate, and Peter and Harriet nearby."
With both her children close by, Anne can regularly spend time with her grandchildren, Savannah and Isla Phillips, as well as Mia, Lena and Lucas Tindall. She has also welcomed Savannah and Isla's new stepsister, Georgina, "with open arms", according to a well-placed source.
© Getty Images for DMMI Royal Char"She's a pragmatist, a divorcee herself – and I think, like every parent, she just wants to see her children happy," said Ailsa Anderson. "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."
