King Charles’ coronation: Princess Anne calls out King’s plans for ‘slimmed down’ monarchy

Princess Anne has revealed her true thoughts about King Charles’ plans for a “slimmed down” monarchy.

Speaking to Adrienne Arsenault on CBC News, the Princess Royal noted the notion doesn’t “seem like a good” idea.

”I think the ‘slimmed-down’ [monarchy] was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment.

”It changes a bit.I’m not quite sure what else, you know, we can do.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Anne - the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip - spoke about her parents’ deaths and how seeing her mother sitting alone at Philip’s funeral was a “difficult” moment.

The royal family lost Philip in April 2021 at the age of 99 in the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic and Queen Elizabeth was forced to sit by herself at his funeral because of social distancing guidelines in place at the time.

Speaking to Arsenault, Anne discussed how the pandemic affected her family — and, in turn, the memorial services for her father.

When asked if she thought the moment could be described as “thievery”, Anne said: “Yes, you’re quite right. In some ways, I’m glad we didn’t see that, at that moment.”

Anne said she didn’t see her mother sitting aloneas she was accompanying her father’s coffin - but revealed that seeing the photo was worse.

“Covid stole from my father, who lost a lot of the people who would have gone to see him and come and talk to him and have those conversations that would have kept him interested.

“He lost all of that. I’m sure that there are lots of families who will tell you the same thing. For the older generation, losing those contacts - online didn’t do that for everybody.”