Princess Anne has spent almost all of her life meeting and greeting members of the public and is known to be one of the hardest working royals - however the Princess Royal once revealed that shaking hands with fans is something she tries to avoid.
- Princess Anne was named the hardest working member of the royal family last year and regularly steps out for appearances and official visits, meeting with hundreds of members of the public every year.
- However, the Princess Royal has previously revealed why she, as a rule, tries not to shake the hands of the public when out and about - and there's a very fair reason why.
- In other royal news, Princess Anne’s very forward-thinking reason for not accepting titles for Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips has been revealed.
While we often see the likes of King Charles and Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales shaking hands with royal fans, and even taking the odd selfie these days, Princess Anne is one royal family member who isn't keen on getting hands-on when she undertakes her royal duties,
Since her first walkabout as a teen, the Princess has refrained from shaking hands with awaiting royal fans. In an ITV documentary, Queen of the World, that aired in 2018, Princess Anne revealed that it's something she's never done, for a pretty logical reason.
Chatting about her life as a working royal, she said, "We never shook hands.
She said that, in the early days of her royal life, "'The theory was that you couldn’t shake hands with everybody, so don’t start. So I kind of stick with that, but I noticed others don’t."
Princess Anne continued, "It’s not for me to say that it’s wrong, but I think the initial concept was that it was patently absurd to start shaking hands. It seems to me that it's become a shaking hands exercise rather than a walkabout, so it has changed."
During the interview, the 72-year-old also admitted that she finds it difficult to interact with members of the public with the wave of technology we now all use, confessing that she's not a fan of those who snap selfie or photos on their phones or tablets when she meets them.
"You had people to talk to, now you don't really. Phones are bad enough, but the iPads, you can’t even see their heads. No idea who you’re talking to.
"I either don’t bother or just say, 'Look, if you want to ask me something… I suggest you put that down.' It is weird.
"People don’t believe they’ve experienced the event unless they’ve taken a photograph."
