Princess Anne says she will never use this modern technology even if 'you paid' her

The Princess Royal believes that young royals have it 'worse' than she ever did because of social media

Princess Anne modern technology
(Image credit: Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Princess Anne once claimed that she would never use Twitter even if ‘you paid’ her as she believes it has made life 'more difficult' for younger royals.


Princess Anne is not a fan of social media platform Twitter and it's not because her brother King Charles III's estate finds itself in an ongoing lawsuit against the platform for it allegedly failing to pay rent for its London offices.

The Princess Royal is consistently making headlines for her 'badass' outfits, quirky habits, such as her ‘favourite place’ reportedly being her ‘walk-in fridge,’ and sweet relationships with the Royal Family's younger members, such as her unique connection to Lady Louise that isn’t shared with anyone else in the Royal Family.

But Anne likely never sees these headlines or any royal fans' reaction to them as she has revealed that she does not use social media and 'wouldn't go near' Twitter even 'if you paid' her.

Princess Anne

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the 2020 documentary, Anne: The Princess Royal at 70, clips of which have resurfaced as the Princess just celebrated her 73rd birthday, Anne shared her belief that social media has made life for young royals 'worse' than she ever had it. 

She said, "The pressure that is applied to the younger members of the family, it's always worse."

Anne highlighted the extra pressures faced by royals such as The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle that have been heralded in the modern age. In particular, Anne placed the blame on social media.

"That's what the media is interested in. That's hard sometimes to deal with. But there was no social media in my day, and it's probably made it more difficult."

"With online technology… being in touch is one thing but it’s not quite the same. The ability to meet people, that’s what makes the difference. I know what Twitter is, but I wouldn’t go anywhere near it if you paid me frankly. But that’s a slightly different issue."

princess anne looking pensive

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While some time has passed since Anne made her anti-social media stance clear, in 2022 she let more information slip about her technophobic approach to modern technology. 

In 2022, the royal commentator Richard Eden wrote in his Daily Mail column that Meaghan Kall, a leading epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, had asked Anne if they could 'connect on Twitter' during an event held at Windsor Castle and Anne had a hilarious response. 

According to Eden, Meaghan 'asked the Princess Royal if they could connect on Twitter' to which Anne responded, "Goodness me, no! I don’t even have an email account."

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse
Freelance news writer

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is royal news and entertainment writer. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with Good To, BBC Good Food and The Independent.