The royal family has long been riven by rumours of feuds – often, strangely, provoked by non-appearances at christenings – and Princess Anne has spoken about her own controversial snub of Prince Harry.
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While the Queen was absent at the christening of Prince Harry’s first-born son with wife Meghan Markle, baby Archie, it was Anne who was a no-show when Harry himself was christened back in 1984. Her non-appearance, despite being invited by parents Prince Charles and Princess Diana, was widely seen as a rude snub at the time.
Anne and then-husband Mark Phillips instead went shooting on their Gatecombe Park estate in Gloucestershire.
This was reportedly due to her fury about being overlooked as a godmother, again. She was also snubbed by Charles and Diana when they announced Prince William’s godparents.
The move also outraged Prince Philip, with royal correspondent Ashley Walton writing at the time: ‘There were rumours that Charles and his father were not on speaking terms as a result.’
Touring Australia a year later, Anne was asked on local TV if the snub rumours were true.
‘Usually, it is not worth saying anything because the fact that it was just a story in the first place, you know they will take anything you say and it will come out on their side,’ she replied, when a simple no would have done nicely.
Pressed further, she answered, ‘Yes, it was a great shame that we missed the christening.
‘But I was only given the choice of one day.
‘As far as we were concerned, it was a date my husband had fixed and he was away in Australia when all this came up.
‘It was actually one of those rare occasions when we had actually made a plan a long way in advance, which is rare with us.
‘We had received a lot of hospitality from people over the years and this was really one move.
‘We are paying them.
‘We felt we couldn’t really put it off.’
So there you have it!
