As Londoners scrambled for their umbrellas in yesterday’s downpour, ‘no-nonsense’ Princess Anne passed hers on.
The Princess Royal was walking in the wet conditions outside St Olave’s Church in central London when she noticed a Church member covering her head with a folder.
When the 75-year-old noticed, she quickly asked for an umbrella before passing it to her.
The Princess, meanwhile, continued casually strolling, appearing totally unaffected by the drizzle and her lack of protection from the wet conditions.
A video of the exchange has impressed royal fans on social media, with one writing: ‘Princess Anne, always smart.’
Another wrote: ‘So much respect for her,’ while a third added: ‘Hardworking. Very witty and kind. And down to earth. No-nonsense kind of person, like her dad.’
It comes amid a busy week for Anne, as her son, Peter Phillips, is due to tie the knot to his NHS nurse fiancée Harriet Sperling at All Saints Church in Cirencester on Saturday.
Among those expected to attend are King Charles and Queen Camilla, alongside Peter’s mother, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
Princess Anne braved the rain and passed her umbrella on while walking outside St Olaves Church in central London yesterday
Also expected at the Gloucestershire ceremony are the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
Peter’s sister Zara Tindall and her husband Mike Tindall are also expected to attend the celebrations.
Peter, 48, and Harriet, 45, officially announced their engagement in August last year after first being linked in May 2024.
In a statement to announce the joyous news, they said both families were ‘delighted’.
The wedding will mark a new chapter for Peter following the breakdown of his marriage to Canadian-born Autumn Kelly.
The former couple married in a lavish 2008 ceremony at St George’s Chapel and later welcomed daughters Savannah, 15, and Isla, 13, before separating in 2019. Their divorce was finalised in 2021.
Harriet, who has a 13-year-old daughter named Georgina from her first marriage, has quickly become a familiar and warmly received face within royal circles.
Last summer, she was seen laughing alongside the King at Royal Ascot after joining members of the Royal Family in the official carriage procession – a strong sign of how accepted she has become within the Firm.
The Princess Royal continued strolling outside the Church, seemingly unbothered by the downpour
Earlier this year, Peter and Harriet appeared happier than ever as they attended Cheltenham Festival alongside Zara and Mike Tindall.
Peter looked visibly smitten as Harriet proudly displayed her engagement ring – a sparkling design said to contain a touching tribute to the late Elizabeth II, having been created by the same jeweller behind the Queen’s iconic 1946 engagement ring.
Harriet herself also boasts wealthy connections, sharing a relation to the Duke of Gloucester through her late father, Rupert Sanders.
Royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams has suggested the upcoming ceremony will be markedly different from Peter’s first wedding, which reportedly left sections of the Royal Family ‘bewildered’.
Harriet herself has spoken openly about the importance of faith in her life, previously revealing how Christianity helped her through the challenges of single motherhood.
In a previous interview, she revealed that her ‘faith was always in me, but it was kind of dormant’.
She added: ‘Somehow it didn’t seem relevant to my life in London. But the end of a seven-year relationship was the turning point for me. I went to church as I felt there was something missing.’
Writing last year for Christian magazine Woman Alive, Harriet also spoke candidly about the difficulties of raising a child alone while finding comfort in her faith.
According to her professional biography, Harriet lives in Gloucestershire and works as a paediatric nurse specialist for the NHS, where she is described as being ‘passionate about early brain development in babies and seeing children thrive’.
In 2010, she was part of a specialist medical team credited with helping save the life of a critically ill baby struck down by a deadly virus at just three weeks old.
Now, with nearly all senior royals expected to gather in the Cotswolds this week, Peter and Harriet’s wedding is shaping up to be one of the most significant private Royal Family celebrations of the year.
