Royals

Known as the hardest working royal, Princess Anne continues her duties with gloves amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Keep calm and carry on.
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It’s business as usual for Princess Anne, who has often been named the hardest working royal by undertaking the highest number of engagements most years.

Visiting the Addington Equestrian Centre in Buckingham in her role as vice patron of the British Horse Society on Monday, the Queen’s daughter, who turns 70 in August, watched a display of world-class coaching demonstrations and gave a speech about the importance of having qualified coaches within the equestrian industry.

The royal mother-of-two also added gloves to her casual outfit of the day, likely a precautionary addition amid the current Covid-19 pandemic and was seen keeping her hands in her pockets for the majority of the event.

The Queen’s second child wore gloves for her engagement on Monday. (Image: Getty)

While Princess Anne has been able to continue with some of her royal duties amid the pandemic, other members of the Royal Family have had to make changes to their schedules including the Queen and Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

In a statement released on Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced they were taking “sensible precaution” in halting some of the Queen’s engagements until further notice.

“For practical reasons in the current circumstances, changes are being made to The Queen’s diary commitments in the coming weeks,” the statement said, which included rescheduled visits to Cheshire and Camden.

The Queen will continue her audiences at the Palace, however other events will be reviewed at on an ongoing basis.

The Queen will be following stricter protocols, with all her upcoming events reviewed on a case-by-case basis. (Image: Getty)

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla were also forced to postpone their upcoming tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan in light of current health advice while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have no scheduled engagements at this point in time.

As well as donning gloves as a precaution, royals have also been advised to not shake hands with people they do meet, in line with the World Health Organisation’s advice.

It’s not easy to forgo a go-to greeting, however, with Prince Charles almost forgetting at the Prince’s Trust Awards last week, where he was seen reaching out for a handshake before quickly changing to Namaste.

Prince Charles has adopted a namaste instead of a handshake to minimise physical contact. (Image: Getty)

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that while 10-month-old Archie had been scheduled to fly to the UK from Canada with Duchess Meghan for his parents’ ‘farewell tour’ it was the growing concerns and precautions surrounding the coronavirus that saw him stay in Canada.

The Sussexes, who will be formally stepping back from royal duties from March 31, have accepted an invitation to visit the Queen at her Scottish residence Balmoral in the UK summer, however, a visit which the 93-year-old monarch is no doubt looking forward to, having not seen her youngest great-grandchild since last year.

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