Princess Anne ‘warts and all’

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 11

Princess Anne ‘warts and all’

"Unco-operative," "overspent." "does not pull her weight” — these are just a few of the comments one may hear when people talk about Princess Anne.

But the truth, savs TVNZ. is somewhat different. She works very hard at her public duties, she enjoys meeting other people, she can be charming and gracious, and she receives none of the Civil List money which popular opinion imagines is spent on her horses.

“Princess Anne" (on Two today at 4.50 p.m.). a documentary about the working life of the Queen’s daughter, allows the viewer a unique chance to see the world through her eyes, and allows the viewer the opportunity to make up his or he; own mind about the character of this misunderstood young woman. The filming technique used, says TVNZ. allows the viewer to see “warts and all, how a person reacts, thinks and feels."

For the first time since Richard Cawston's 1968 film, "Royal Family," the Queen allowed cameras into meetings and work situations at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

and Gatcombe Park, so that Thames Television could show the behind-the-scenes activity of the Princess’s staff.

For 12 months the film crew went on official engagements with the Princess: Fiji, to represent the Queen at the tenth anniversary of independence; Scotland to rededicate a warship; the Royal Albert Hall for her investiture as Chancellor of London University; Yorkshire to a bleak army barracks; and Wales for Save the Children Fund.

They watched her private secretary prepare three knights of the realm for their investiture ceremony. At Buckingham Palace they filmed a tea-time chat with Sir Roden Cutler, the former Governor of New South Wales, and Lady Cutler. During the Queen’s visit to Australia last year the crew filmed Princess Anne acting as Counsellor of State at her home in Gloucestershire. In her office at Buckingham Palace the Princess decided which engagements she would accept for the next six months; her private secretary advised her, her personal secretary allocated the

Civil List money, her secretary. her dresser, and all the rest of her staff were seen at work.

The crew also filmed family scenes, such as the christening of the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Anne Elizabeth Philips, at Windsor Castle, at which no journalists were allowed. The Queen gave access to film Princess Anne at a garden party, the first time this had been done with sound recording as well.

That is the breakthrough with this film: ft is a documentary for the 1980 s, using "fly-on-the-wall” techniques unthinkable in Cawston’s reverential film.

In addition to how Princess Anne works, viewers will see what she means to a factory which invited her to open a new extension.

For five months the film crew watched the preparations, while the management took a crash course in how to deal with royalty; how to behave in the uppermost echelon of English society.

For the workers too it was a big day. and the film crew captured their excitement. At the end of the day the

managing director was left holding a bill for £75,000. "Fnncess Anne: Her Working Life" was directed byTim King, whose “cinemaverite" style has. in recent years, won him numerous awards, including the British Critics Award, the British Academy Award, and the Italia Prize.