In almost every fairytale, princesses love happily ever after once they get their prince. However, what the story books tend to miss out is that being a princess can be a real challenge. Being a part of the Royal Family can be very difficult, it may seem all great but turns out it is a bit too far from it. We have witnessed not just one but two major transformations of commoners coming into the most life-changing even of their lives, and that is marrying a real-life prince.
In 2011, Kate Middleton became a Duchess after marrying the third-in-line to the throne, Prince William. Her life has indeed changed since then, especially now that they have three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Last May, another ordinary girl was welcomed to the British Royal Family. Meghan Markle used to be an actress who had to work for the television and the movies, but now, she must work as a royal public figure together with her husband Prince Harry.
Since this is the modern times and Princes William and Harry does not have a sister, the world has yet to see a princess grow up coming from the closest lineage. The last time was with Princess Anne, who just celebrated her 68th birthday a few days ago. She is the Queen’s only daughter, and has the title of Princess Royal.
She isn’t actually what people expected her to be, but she now stays behind the spotlight and is trying to live a normal life. However, one of her most memorable moments with the public was when she was almost kidnapped.
The Princess Who Almost Got Kidnapped
The Princess Royal is much more of a cool kind of princess than what most people think. She is incredibly low maintenance and had been an equestrian all her life. In fact, she has competed in the Olympics for it during her early twenties. However, there is one moment that people would never forget about her, and that is when she was almost abducted.
The Princess Royal rode out as as Colonel of the Blues and Royals at Trooping the Colour. pic.twitter.com/9cGkmnDGQX
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 9, 2018
It happened in 1974 when Princess Anne was only 23-years-old. She was returning to the Buckingham Palace after going to a charity event. However, their car was actually forced to stop since the escort car turned out to be being driven by a man named Ian Ball. He then fired a pistol, but the princess’ personal police officer as well as some other guards tried to disarm Ball but failed. A nearby tabloid reporter also tried to protect the princess but ended up being shot in the chest.
The kidnapper then went to the Princess’ car and told her of his plan on abducting her and having a ransom of £2 million, which he would be donating to National Health Service. The Princess managed to get out of the car and a former boxer, who happens to be just passing by, punched Ball in the head and the police backup finally arrested him.
Who Is The Next Princess Royal?
Most people are wondering, what exactly is the role of the only princess in the first family? Well, the Queen, who is her mother, gave her the title of Princess Royal back in 1987. That is what is supposed to be given to the eldest child of time current monarch. The reason why she was only given the title at that time and not since her birth, was because her aunt, Princess Mary, was still alive at that time and there must only be one living Princess Royal in the family.
Now the next question would be, who will be the next Princess Royal when Princess Anne dies? Since Prince William and Prince Harry does not have a sister, the next Princess Royal would then be Prince William eldest daughter, Princess Charlotte. However, even if Princess Anne dies, she wouldn’t be able to assume the title right away. That is because, according to royal protocol, a Princess Royal must be given to the eldest daughter of the current monarch. That simply means, her father, Prince William, has to be King first, before she will be able to carry the title.
There have actually been seven women who had the title of Princess Royal in history ever since it began in the 1600s. When Princess Charlotte earns her title once her father becomes King, she would be the second Princess named Charlotte’s who will have the title. The very first one was the daughter of King George III in the 1700s.