Princess Anne: slimmed-down royal family ‘doesn’t sound like a good idea’

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Princess Anne, the 16th in line to the British throne, has said she does not think a slimmed-down monarchy is a “good idea”.

Speaking to the Canadian public broadcaster, CBC News, the princess royal was asked about reports that her brother King Charles intends to overhaul the institution, in a move frequently referred to as a “slimmed down” monarchy.

There have been reports that the king could reduce the number of working royals and cut back royal staffing.

Princess Anne is often referred to as the “hardest-working royal” due to the number of engagements she attends in a year; in 2022, she topped the list with 214, compared with Charles’s 181.

Asked about proposals to modernise the monarchy, the 72-year-old replied: “Well, I think the ‘slimmed down’ was said in a day when there were a few more people around. It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I would say. I’m not quite sure what else we can do.”

Speaking from St James’s Palace before Charles’s coronation on Saturday, Anne said she expected much the same from her 74-year-old brother.

“Well, you know what you’re getting because he’s been practising for a bit, and I don’t think he’ll change,” she said. “You know, he is committed to his own level of service, and that will remain true.”

Westminster Abbey will take centre stage when the king is crowned at midday during the coronation ceremony on Saturday.

The service will begin at 11am and will continue until 1pm, when the newly crowned king and queen consort embark on their coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace in the gold state coach.

Charles’s coronation will include the first “homage of the people” – an addition to the ancient ceremony in which people across the UK and the overseas realms will be invited to swear an oath of allegiance to Charles.

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The proposal was swiftly denounced by critics as “offensive, tone-deaf and a gesture that holds the people in contempt”.

Graham Smith, a spokesperson for Republic, which campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy and its replacement with a directly elected head of state, said: “In a democracy it is the head of state who should be swearing allegiance to the people, not the other way around.

“This kind of nonsense should have died with Elizabeth I, not outlived Elizabeth II.”