Anne: You couldn’t pay me to use Twitter

PRINCESS Anne has said she would not go on Twitter ‘even if you paid me’.

Her swipe at the use of social networking sites came as she discussed the pitfalls of trying to work through the lockdown.

Anne said she took part in virtual meetings online through the video-call app Zoom when public outings were banned but felt it was no substitute for face-to-face meetings.

‘With online technology... being in touch is one thing but it’s not quite the same,’ she said. ‘The ability to meet people, that’s what makes the difference.

‘I mean, I know what Twitter is but I wouldn’t go anywhere near it if you paid me frankly.’ She suggested social media was adding to the pressures already faced by younger royals such as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Sussexes. She added: ‘There was no social media in my day, so it probably has made it more difficult.’

Anne made the comments in an ITV documentary by the Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman marking her 70th birthday.

In the programme, the hard-working Princess Royal admitted she found lockdown tough but expressed sympathy with those she said had had it harder then herself. She was self-isolating at Gatcombe Park, her Gloucestershire residence, where she said there was ‘plenty to do’. But she added: ‘It is frustrating... but it’s not hard here – the idea of being stuck in a block of flats with small children, I can’t imagine how difficult that would be.’

The documentary features unseen family footage and conversations with her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, and children Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, who told how their mother’s decision not to give them titles had made them ‘fight harder’.

Anne: The Princess Royal at 70 is on ITV1 at 9pm on Wednesday