PRINCESS ANNE MARKS A MILESTONE

As Anne, Princess Royal approaches her 75th birthday, we toast her no-fuss celebration and new official portrait

- JENNIFER NEWTON

She is often regarded as the royal family’s hardest-working member with a straightforward approach to her duties. And as Anne, Princess Royal approaches her landmark 75th birthday, which sees the release of new official portrait, it is exactly that no-fuss attitude which she is adopting for her big day.

There will be no major public party and no TV interview - in fact, her birthday on 15 August is being marked simply and with style by the portrait taken at a recent state banquet at Windsor Castle and a new commemorative coin from the Royal Mint, which is the first ever to feature Anne’s depiction.

Last year, Anne completed 474 engagements up and down the country, as well as abroad, as she retained her “hardest-working” royal title. The number would have been more if it weren't for the fact she was forced to take a break from work last June following a stint in hospital after suffering a nasty concussion from an incident thought to involve a horse on her Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire.

And according to royal expert Jennie Bond, it is exactly this no-nonsense attitude that drives her forward in her nonstop work. Jennie exclusively explains,

“That's how she regularly gets four or five jobs done a day - often in different parts of the country.

“There have been times when I think she has felt underappreciated. Once, on a visit to an Aids project in Uganda with the Princess Royal, she berated me for mentioning that Diana had been a champion of Aids sufferers. I think she felt people were always talking about Diana even though Anne herself worked so hard.