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Princess Anne marks 70th birthday with three new photos

Written by on 15/08/2020

Princess Anne’s 70th birthday has been marked with the release of three official photographs.

The Princess Royal, known for her no-nonsense approach to life and dedication to the job, is shown smiling and looking relaxed at her Gatcombe Park home in Gloucestershire.

Wearing a Maureen Baker evening dress and Sue Palmer bolero jacket, the Queen‘s only daughter posed for celebrated photographer John Swannell.

Swannell is a favourite of the royals and has taken photographs of everyone from Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons and the Queen’s official Diamond Jubilee portrait in 2012, to Tony Blair, Sir Michael Caine and Sir Elton John.

In one picture she smiles broadly from a chair and another she looks directly at the camera, with a hint of a smile as she wears an emerald green Sue Palmer dress with a gold ribbon knot brooch, set with 12 diamonds.

The images were taken in late February, a few weeks before the coronavirus lockdown started and ahead of her birthday on Saturday.

In the third photo, Anne is dressed more casually as she poses under a tree and looks into the distance.

The princess has been awarded army and RAF promotions to mark her birthday in recognition of her “invaluable contribution and commitment to the military”, the Ministry of Defence said.

She is now a general in the British Army and an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force, which brings her rank in the two services into line with her position as an admiral in the Royal Navy.

Senior members of the Royal Family receive military promotions to mark milestone birthdays, and the Queen has approved the move.

Anne’s son-in-law, ex-England rugby player Mike Tindall revealed earlier this week plans to mark the day have been scaled back due to COVID-19 and the recent spike of cases in Aberdeen.

Tindall, who is married to Anne’s daughter Zara, said alternative arrangements have been made.

“We did have plans – it would’ve been up in Scotland – but obviously with COVID and Aberdeen being locked down a bit, I think everything’s been scaled back a little bit,” he told the BBC’s The One Show.

“It’s a shame. I’m sure we’ll do something as a family to celebrate her 70 amazing years, she’s just an incredible woman in terms of how much work she can get through in the year.

“We will be doing something, as yet I don’t know whether she knows – so my lips are sealed.”

It is thought Anne is in Scotland, as are her parents, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who traditionally spend the summer at Balmoral.

A TV documentary of her life, which she was followed around for a year for, has been made and she guest-edited Country Life magazine to mark her 70 years.

Her son, Peter Phillips told the documentary: “Well, you know what, tenacious, I think, is a pretty good word to sum her up.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Princess Anne marks 70th birthday with three new photos