Princess Anne: why I gatecrashed ‘men’s end of room’
Speaking ahead of her 70th birthday, Princess Royal reveals fight against sexism within the establishment
WHEN the Duchess of Sussex urged the world’s women to speak up for themselves and “challenge the norms” this week, she was hailed for her groundbreaking fight for feminism. Now, the Princess Royal has disclosed how she has been quietly doing just that for more than half a century, fighting sexism from within the establishment since her teenage years.
The Princess, speaking ahead of her 70th birthday, described how she deployed her famously no-nonsense approach after noticing a sexist divide at official functions, declining to be confined to the “women’s end” of the room.
Detailing a royal visit to Australia when she was 19, where she observed how her mother was treated differently to other women by virtue of her role as Queen, the Princess said she took matters into her own hands.
“Of course, the Queen is the Queen and it’s a different relationship, but I still got the feeling that there were women at that end of the room and men at this end of the room,” she told Australian Women’s Weekly.
“I didn’t go for that, so I just annoyed the men at the other end. To be honest, I think they were gratified in Queensland that I was the least bit interested in the livestock or the land. They were quite happy to talk.”
Last year, the Countess of Wessex urged Commonwealth leaders to bring about a “feminist peace” while earlier this week, the Duchess of Sussex – who made feminism a cornerstone of her work during her time in the Royal family – delivered a speech to a conference about female leadership.
“Women have always gotten a lot of ‘Well, that isn’t how it’s done’ or ‘Yeah, that’s an idea, but let’s do this instead,’” she said. “But when do we hear that as women? We hear that in the moments we challenge the norms.”
The Princess Royal, who undertook more than 500 engagements last year, has previously shared her concern that the younger royal generation should not always try to “reinvent the wheel”.
In April, she described herself as “the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back saying, ‘Don’t forget the basics.’”
In the new interview, she discusses veganism, genetically modified food and climate change, joking that her conversations with the Prince of Wales on organic farming are “occasional… but rather short”. The interview with Australian Women’s Weekly is out now. ♦ The Duke of York’s official website has been closed, in what will be seen as a final blow to hopes of a return to working royal life, from which he stepped back in the wake of his Newsnight interview about Jeffrey Epstein. The website, thedukeofyork.org, had detailed his official duties, but now redirects to the official Royal family website. Buckingham Palace said the website host’s contract had not been renewed.