Britain is lucky to have the no-nonsense Princess Anne

Journalists aren’t supposed to like Princess Anne because she doesn’t really seem to like journalists, which of course gives the public good reason to like Princess Anne.

For years, the Queen’s only daughter has been carrying out more engagements than many of the other members of the Royal family put together – without any media coverage whatsoever. It’s not that the press aren’t interested in covering her work – it’s that they aren’t invited to.

So when she joined forces with the Duchess of Cambridge for their first combined royal engagement at the Royal College of Midwives on Wednesday, photographers and reporters were present to capture what she is really like.

They weren’t left disappointed as the no-nonsense grandmother, 71, joked about tripping over a horse lorry while heavily pregnant and fearing that the baby would become “wedged” in her pelvis.

One gets the impression that the Princess Royal is the kind of woman who could give birth in the morning and then compete in a dressage competition in the afternoon.

It is for this reason that I suspect that many people in Britain would secretly love the next monarch to be Anne.

She always comes near the top of the royal popularity charts by dint of her strong work ethic – and has acquired more empathy as she has got older.

For example, she came across remarkably well on last year’s ITV documentary Anne: The Princess Royal at 70, when she spoke about the pressures facing young female royals, saying “there was no social media in my day, and it’s probably made it more difficult”.

When he becomes king, Prince Charles would be wise to give his sister a very senior executive role in “The Firm”.