PRINCESS ANNE MARKS A MILESTONE

As Anne, Princess Royal approaches her 75th birthday, we hear how it will be business as usual for the occasion

- 

She is often regarded as the royal family's hardest working member with a no-nonsense approach to her extensive duties. And as Anne, Princess Royal approaches her 75th birthday, it is exactly this no-fuss attitude which she will be adopting when it comes to celebrating.

There will be no major public party, no special photoshoot and no TV interview. In fact, the only way her birthday on 15 August is being marked is with 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. The number would have been higher if it weren't for the fact that she was forced to take a break last June after a stint in hospital following suffering a nasty concussion from an incident thought to involve a horse on her Gloucestershire estate.

According to royal expert Jennie Bond, it is Anne's straightforward approach that drives her forward in her nonstop work. Jennie explains, "She has always been a no-fuss woman. Her manner is crisp, clean and efficient. 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.

"But in recent years, I think her immense contribution to supporting her brother and the monarchy has been fully recognised. She is incredibly hardworking and shows no sign of slowing down."

Anne was born at Clarence House in 1950, just under two years before her mother Elizabeth's life changed forever with her accession to the throne. At the time of her birth, Anne was third in line to the throne behind her older brother, Charles.