Princess Anne Asked 1 Question About Her ‘Decent-Sized’ Coronation Hat Before Blocking Prince Harry’s View — Biography
Princess Anne went viral for blocking Prince Harry’s view at the coronation with her hat. Now, in a new royal biography, an author revealed how the Princess Royal reacted to the headpiece. Ahead, the question Anne asked about the hat she wore to King Charles III’s coronation. Plus, why she sat directly in front of the Duke of Sussex.
Anne wore a meaningful outfit to King Charles III’s coronation
Unlike Kate Middleton’s coronation dress, the Princess Royal’s ensemble reflected her military role in the ceremony. Anne served as Gold Stick in Waiting, a position she’s reportedly held since 1998, dating back to the 1400s when two officers — a Gold and Silver Stick — stayed near the monarch for protection.
Discussing her coronation role ahead of the ceremony, Anne told CBC News: The National she’d agreed to do it, in part, because it made figuring out what to wear easier.
“Not least of all, it solves my dress problem,” she said.
For the coronation on May 6, 2023, Anne wore her military uniform, topping it off with a velvet green cloak. Anne accessorized with a black hat accented with a large red plume.
She rode on horseback behind King Charles and Queen Camilla’s carriage through the streets of London, England, before watching the Westminster Abbey ceremony seated next to her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and in front of her nephew, Harry.
Anne asked if she should keep her hat on for the entire coronation ceremony
In his new book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, author Robert Hardman revealed how Anne reacted when she saw the red and black hat she’d be wearing to the coronation for the first time.
In an extract serialized by the Daily Mail in Britain ahead of the biography’s release on Jan. 18, 2024, Hardman cited Anne, 73, recalling how she’d inquired about how long she should wear the headpiece.
“‘The hat was an interesting question,’” Anne said, per the biography. “‘I said: ‘Are you sure you want me to keep the hat on? Because it’s quite a decent-sized hat.’ And the answer was yes. There you go. Not my choice.’”
Sure enough, when the ceremony got underway at Westminster Abbey, Anne was there with her hat on, sitting among other British royals.
Biographer described the suggestion Anne blocked Harry’s view in a pre-arranged move as ‘nonsense’
Also on the topic of Anne’s coronation hat, Hardman remarked on the suggestion that Anne’s tall piece of headwear was planned to deliberately block Harry’s view in light of Spare and Harry & Meghan.
He described the suggestion that the whole thing had been pre-arranged as “nonsense.”
“At the Coronation itself, Prince Harry was seated in the third row of the royal section, immediately behind Princess Anne, who was wearing a striking red-plumed bicorn hat that remained on her head throughout,” Hardman wrote.
“Social media snipers instantly concluded that Harry had been deliberately placed behind his aunt’s tall hat to obscure his view,” he continued, calling it “nonsense.”
“Not only do [sic] the Lord Chamberlain’s Office not think like that,” the author explained. “But the Princess Royal had only switched to that seat after her request for a speedy exit.”
