Out of the entire Royal Family, Princess Anne is still the only member who will not shake hands during a royal walkabout, and now the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II has revealed why.
“We never shook hands,” the 68-year-old royal explains in a sneak peek from the upcoming HBO documentary Queen of the World.
“The theory was that you couldn’t shake hands with everybody, so don’t start. So I kind of stick with that, but I noticed others don’t,” she remarks, laughing.
The princess then goes on to reveal that while “it’s not for me to say that it’s wrong,” the tradition of royal walkabouts has shifted significantly since the Queen began the custom in the 1970s.
“It’s become a shaking hands exercise rather than a walkabout,” she remarks.
Queen of the World features members of the royal family speaking about Queen Elizabeth and the Commonwealth and will air just before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle head to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga on their first official tour of Commonwealth nations.
The series will also feature appearances from Meghan, Harry, Prince Charles and Prince William.
Queen of the World will air on Channel Seven on October 2 at 7:30pm.
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