The royal family’s difficult year filled with health problems continues
The Princess Royal was taken to hospital on Sunday with concussion and minor injuries to her head after an incident involving a horse.
The Princess Royal’s head injury hospitalisation is the latest in a long line of health upsets experienced by the royal family since the start of the year.
Anne’s accident, believed to have been caused by a horse while she was out walking, comes as both her brother, the King, and niece-in-law, the Princess of Wales, face ongoing treatment for cancer.
Kate returned briefly to the public spotlight for Trooping the Colour earlier this month.
Anne was among the members of the royal family who joined the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, and the King and Queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in celebration of Charles’s official birthday.
Kate confirmed in a candid statement the day before Trooping the Colour that although she is making good progress, she is “not out of the woods yet” and has a few more months of chemotherapy left and is learning “to be patient, especially with uncertainty”.
Kate’s cancer was found after she underwent major abdominal surgery shortly after Christmas and spent almost two weeks in the London Clinic hospital.
She revealed the news of her cancer to the nation in an emotional video message in March, after speculation about her health and whereabouts spiralled online.
The King resumed public facing duties in April, after being diagnosed with an undisclosed cancer following surgery on his prostate in January.
Charles travelled to France with Camilla for moving D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations, with his son William representing his father at the international ceremony.
The King is set to make a short trip to the Channel Islands next month.
The Queen is said to have urged him to take it easy, but told author Lee Child he “won’t slow down and won’t do what he’s told”.
The Daily Mirror has reported that Charles is to scale back an official tour to Australia over doctors’ fears he is doing too much.
The King and Camilla are expected to visit Australia and Samoa in the autumn, but a hoped-for trip to New Zealand is likely to be shelved, the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, Sarah, Duchess of York revealed in January she had malignant melanoma skin cancer.
It was her second cancer diagnosis within a year, following her breast cancer the summer before, which led to her undergoing a mastectomy and subsequent reconstructive surgery.
In late February, Lady Gabriella Kingston’s husband Thomas died from a “catastrophic head injury” with a gun found close to his body.
In a show of support from Charles, Lady Gabriella, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter, was invited to join the King’s carriage procession at Royal Ascot last week, riding next to Anne.
It was Lady Gabriella’s first major appearance since the death of her husband.
A memorial service was held for Mr Kingston at the weekend, with Lady Gabriella and the Kingston family saying they were grateful for “the chance to celebrate – and give thanks for – the life of a wonderful man, among so many of those who knew and loved him too”.
The royal family also experienced the loss of both the late Queen in 2022, and the late Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.
And they faced the bitter aftermath of Megxit, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moving to the US and levelling accusations at the Windsors in their Netflix documentary and Harry’s memoir Spare.
