A Scottish-based digital creator named Finlay Jacobs has recounted an unexpected royal encounter that took place while he was out for a run in Scotland.
Mr Jacobs shared the moment on his Instagram, describing how a Land Rover pulled up beside him as he jogged past a property, and a woman stepped out to greet him.
“I look again, and I’m like, it’s Princess Anne, Princess Anne of Scotland, it’s like, ‘What the heck!'” he said.
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter then offered him a few words of motivation: “She looks at me and goes, ‘Keep going!'”
The Princess Royal is staying at Balmoral alongside her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, as part of the Royal Family’s traditional summer gathering at the Scottish estate
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PA
Though tempted to pause for a photograph or capture the Princess Royal on video, the content creator chose to carry on with his run. He explained that he did not want to intrude, recognising that she was clearly in the area seeking privacy.
The Princess Royal is staying at Balmoral alongside her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, as part of the Royal Family’s traditional summer gathering at the Scottish estate.
King Charles has been spending time at his Highland retreat with Queen Camilla, while the Prince and Princess of Wales have also joined the party with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The annual Balmoral holiday has long been a fixture in the royal calendar, offering the family a chance to retreat from public life at the sprawling estate. Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment regarding Mr Jacobs’ encounter with the Princess Royal.
A Scottish-based digital creator named Finlay Jacobs has recounted an unexpected royal encounter that took place while he was out for a run in Scotland
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INSTAGRAM/@FINSLIFE_
The gathering this summer has drawn a particularly large contingent of royals to the Scottish Highlands, with several branches of the family making the journey north.
Prince Edward and Sophie are also reported to be at the 50,000-acre Highland estate with their children, Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex.
Zara and Mike Tindall have been seen at Balmoral with their family, adding to the sizeable royal gathering this summer.
Peter Phillips and his new wife Harriet Phillips, an NHS paediatric nurse specialist whom he married in June, have likewise been spotted at the estate.
The Princess Royal and Sir Tim Laurence occupied a car with the Duke of Edinburgh and Lady Louise at Balmoral last weekend
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PATheir wedding earlier this year made the Princess Royal a step-grandmother to Mrs Phillips’s 13-year-old daughter Georgina, who has joined Mr Phillips’s daughters Savannah, 15, and Isla, 14, as part of the extended family.
The royals were gathered at the Scottish retreat when it became public knowledge last Wednesday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were making their return to Britain from California, news that the King had reportedly been informed of three days prior.
Anne has reportedly embraced Georgina’s arrival into the family “with open arms,” according to a well-placed source.
The teenager has described the Princess Royal as an “amazing mother and grandmother” who possesses a gift for putting people at ease, a quality likened to that of her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Life at Anne’s 700-acre Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire is said to be strikingly informal, with her children, Mr Phillips and Zara Tindall, living nearby and grandchildren a regular presence. Ailsa Anderson, a former communications secretary to the late Queen, has called the estate Anne’s “bolthole,” where she can simply be herself.
Royal author Robert Hardman has described Gatcombe as Anne’s “happy place,” noting that her approach to family life is “very no-nonsense.” He said: “It’s very normal; there isn’t any standing on ceremony, and she’s the only one with a title. She’s a very good grandmother.”
The Sussexes touched down at Birmingham Airport last Wednesday, returning to Britain with their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, after six years in the United States. Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, received no police protection upon arrival, and they plan to settle in a non-royal residence outside London while maintaining properties in California and Portugal.
The couple had taken their children to visit the King at Highgrove a month earlier, their first meeting with their grandfather in four years.
Separately, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the King and Queen will undertake an overseas tour to Antigua and Barbuda this autumn, timed to coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from November 1 to 4. Charles, who continues to receive cancer treatment, will also make solo visits to the Bahamas and Guyana during the nine-day trip.