Rumour has it that Princess Anne had some beef with her former sisters-in-law, Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, back in the eighties.
WATCH: Princess Anne makes scathing remark about Diana and Sarah Ferguson
The Queen’s only daughter had a rather low opinion of her brother’s brides, and reportedly even made a scathing remark about them behind their backs.
Daily Express royal photographer Steve Wood claimed that the Princess Royal thought her sisters-in-law were somewhat “lessening the stature of the royal family”.
Steve reportedly made the claim while discussing Anne’s relationships with her fellow royals in the 2002 documentary The Real Princess Anne.
“[Anne] was extremely annoyed when Diana became centre of stage and then Fergie became centre of stage as well for a while,” Steve said in the documentary.
“She said about them behind their backs several times – ‘those girls’.
“She viewed them both as lessening the statue of the royal family – too much tabloid for her,” he said.
The photographer went on to say that when Diana came onto the scene, photographers everywhere seemingly lost interest in Anne.
Former Daily Express royal photographer Ashley Walton then quipped that photographers “dropped [Anne] like a hot potato” when Diana started dating Charles.
Steve added: “Diana swept the world… Diana became the highest publishing picture everywhere.”
What’s more, while Diana’s outreach work was regarded as warm and loving, Anne’s approach was viewed as “business-like” opposed to Diana’s personal touch.
The Sun royal reporter Harry Arnold also claimed in the documentary that Anne was troubled by Princess Diana’s popularity with the public, which reportedly made her “angry”.
“I know that in private Princess Anne said to one of her colleagues, ‘I work hard every day, I’m never in the paper, no one ever thanks me. All [Diana] has to do is turn up.’ I think that about sums up their relationship. Diana stole everyone’s limelight,” Harry said.
Royal biographer Penny Junor added: “There was Diana on the one hand, who was incredibly touchy-feely, who hugged children, who put children on her lap, who even kissed people – grown up people in public.
“And there was Anne, not touching anyone, not playing up to the cameras at all… She does seem to be very business-like. But she gets the work done,” she said at the time.
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