Princess Anne Blamed Her Inability To ‘Fit In,’ Not Her Temper, For Bad Press

Princess Anne doesn’t have a very good relationship with the press, especially when she was much younger. Compared to her older brother, Prince Charles, Princess Anne was dubbed as serious, sulky and ill-tempered.

During her appearance on “Parkinson In Australia,” the Princess Royal weighed in on why she thinks the press is not very fond of her. Host Michael Parkinson asked Princess Anne if the bad press surrounding her started after her 1971 trip to Australia, and she said that it must have started even before that.

“I mean, I wasn’t conscious of it before that, but I suspect that even before that I didn’t fit the image that the media thought I ought to have,” she said. “I think, princesses how they come in a fairy story — that’s what they are and somehow I didn’t quite fit. Still don’t!” she added.

But Princess Anne said that she doesn’t mind all the negative criticisms she has been receiving. And even years later, the negative perception toward the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip still persisted.

In the documentary “The Real Princess Anne,” the mom of two was even accused of not liking people and having a bad attitude. During one of her outings with Prince Charles in the United States, a reporter asked Princess Anne a simple question, but she refused to answer it.

According to royal author Kitty Kelley, Princess Anne’s behavior at that time made Prince Charles look good. “He smiled for the photographers, she swatted them like flies,” she wrote in “The Royals.”

Meanwhile, Princess Anne’s interview on “Parkinson In Australia” in 1980 also made headlines due to her comment on the selective depiction of some members of the royal family. The interviewer used the Queen as an example by saying that Her Majesty always seems to be laughing in the newspapers, but Parkinson said that it’s unlikely that the monarch always smiles in real life.

“No, she takes an intelligent interest in what’s going on.” Princess Anne said. “And it’s difficult, I always think, to take an intelligent interest and wear a grin.”

Parkinson also talked about how Prince Charles and the female members of the royal family are depicted. “Ah, but men can be more serious — they’re allowed to be. Women aren’t supposed to be funny either,” Princess Anne said sarcastically.