Princess Anne still can’t remember the accident, says a friend

Princess Anne still cannot remember the incident that led to her hospitalization, a friend from the local equestrian scene told The Daily Beast.

The source added that while her family is “deeply shocked” they support her planned return to public life next week.

The friend added that “no one would bother” to urge Anne – who suffers from amnesia and concussion after being kicked or hit in the head – to slow down her hectic work schedule.

However, a palace source said that while Anne’s return was welcome, her absence had had no noticeable impact on palace operations as a whole, adding that her recent absence from the public eye had been an “unforeseen trial run” for her future plans, which would inevitably lead to her doing less over time.

Princess Anne is Britain’s straightforward queen – and is loved for it

Anne’s first mission since the accident is scheduled to take place next week. As part of her patronage of a lighthouse conservation organization, she is scheduled to visit a remote location in Scotland.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the visit, which is part of the princess’s official schedule, and said updates would be released in due course.

The friend said: “It was a freak accident and she still can’t remember exactly what happened. Her family was obviously deeply shocked at the time, but when you own horses, these things happen and it seems like everything is fine, everything is fine.”

When asked about her family’s attitude to Anne’s planned return to work next week, the horse owner said: “She’s been resting, which is not good for her. Anyone who knows her knows she can’t wait to get back in the saddle, literally. Her family knows how much her work means to her. No one would tell her to slow down because she would probably tell them ‘fuck off!'”

Anne, 73, is expected to make a full recovery. Her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, said after her discharge from hospital: “We are deeply grateful to the medical team and hospital staff for their expert care, as well as to the emergency services who were so wonderful at the scene. We are both deeply touched by all the kind messages we have received from so many people near and far. It means a great deal to us.”

Her daughter Zara, who is married to former rugby player Mike Tindall, is said to have seen the accident as a “huge wake-up call” for the family.

“This is exactly what Zara has feared for years, but her mother had no chance to slow down as everyone else collapsed,” a source said OK! Magazine, pointing to the chaos that has plagued the royals in recent months: Both King Charles and the Princess of Wales fell ill with cancer less than a year after Charles’ coronation.

However, a former royal aide who worked with all the key royals, including Anne, during their time in the palace said: “That’s not quite true. Anne does an incredible job, but she does it because she wants to. Nobody is putting pressure on her to fly thousands of miles in a helicopter every week.”

“William has made it very clear that he will not do things that way. He knows that the future of the royal family will be one of fewer, but more impactful and high-profile events.

“Anne is 73, so you don’t need a crystal ball to know that at some point she will have to do less. That plan is in place. In a way, the last few weeks have been an unexpected dry run for the future. The monarchy did not come to a standstill without her.”

A journalist from the Daily Telegraph who recently accompanied Anne for a week estimated that she shook hands with nearly 700 people and walked over 800 miles.

Anne was impeccably loyal to her brother both as Prince of Wales and as King. Perhaps her only implicit criticism of him was her criticism of the excessive “diminishing” of the royal family.

Before Charles’ coronation, Anne told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the slimming down proposal originally came into play “when there were a few more people around,” meaning a few more working royals. She added: “From my point of view, that doesn’t sound like a good idea, I would say. I’m not quite sure what else we can do.”

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