RICHARD KAY: Princess Anne’s absence offers the most compelling warning of the dangers of a slimmed-down monarchy [Video]

21:35 EDT 24 Jun 2024, updated 06:08 EDT 25 Jun 2024

Mercifully the blow she received was not life-threatening and the wounds to her head were described as ‘minor’.

But even if Princess Anne makes a characteristically swift recovery from the concussion that has kept her under close observation at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital, the unfortunate incident is a dramatic reminder of just how vital she is to the monarchy.

Indeed without the ever-present Anne, it is impossible to imagine it continuing its schedule of public engagements on anything like the scale that it does. In recent times, with both the King and the Princess of Wales being treated for cancer, she has almost single-handedly propped up the Royal Family.

In the first three months of the year, she took on more than 30 per …