Social media adds to pressures on young royals, Anne suggests

The Princess Royal has suggested social media is adding to the pressures already faced by younger members of the royal family.

Interviewed for a documentary marking her 70th birthday next month, Anne also said that she hoped her legacy would be the passing on of her knowledge and experience.

The Queen’s daughter was followed for more than a year by film-makers for the ITV programme, which features unseen family footage and conversations with her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, and her husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

Commenting on the latest generation of royals, like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the princess said: “The pressure that is applied to the younger members of the family is always worse, because that’s what the media is interested in and that’s, you know, hard sometimes to deal with.

“But there was no social media in my day. So it probably has made it more difficult.”

In the film, due to be screened on Wednesday, Anne commented further on social media: “With online technology... being in touch is one thing but it’s not quite the same.

“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. But that’s a slightly different issue.”

Famously known as the hardestworking member of the royal family, her daughter Zara said: “Age is not a thing to her it’s, you know, very much... the more she keeps doing the younger she’ll stay.”

Zara told the story of her mother returning from an event and putting on boots and a coat over her formal clothes and going out to feed the chickens.

The Princess Royal was interviewed for a documentary marking her 70th birthday.