Princess Anne’s very practical career choice if she’d never been born a member of the Royal Family is something that many people might be surprised by.
Although Princess Anne doesn’t have full-time security, she is one of the most important working members of the Royal Family and has been devoted to her royal duties for decades. She first started carrying out public engagements when she was 18 and although the Princess Royal also had a successful equestrian career, since she retired her full-time job has been her royal role. However, that doesn’t mean that King Charles’s younger sister hasn’t ever considered embarking on a very different career path. Princess Anne herself revealed in 2020 during an interview with Vanity Fair that she’d have been an engineer if she wasn’t royal.
"The practicalities of how things work, I think, was always interesting as far as I was concerned," the Princess Royal explained. "But I think it was a little bit early in the sort of scheme of things to have gone down that route."
Instead, as noted by the publication, Princess Anne has focused on championing women in this field in her role as Patron of Women Into Science and Engineering. The senior royal went on to reveal that she’s "certainly enjoyed" being part of "trying to encourage more girls to look at engineering as a realistic career" even if she never ended up pursuing this career herself.
Princess Anne’s chosen career path if she hadn't been born royal is something that might astound some people, but given her passion for science and practicality it makes sense. There is even an engineering medal named in her honour - The Princess Royal Silver Medal.
It recognises a demonstrated and outstanding personal contribution to British engineering and in 2021, as per the Royal Academy of Engineering, Princess Anne "generously allowed" them to rename it after her. This was done in tribute to her own "outstanding contributions as a Royal Fellow" and her role as an "exceptional champion for engineering".
Her passion for this field is something that she shared with the late Prince Philip. Father and daughter are understood to have been very close and they both shared a commitment to royal duties and a no-nonsense attitude. Another medal awarded by the Royal Academy is the Prince Philip medal and Princess Anne presented to a female engineer for the first time in 2021 - just months after he passed away at Windsor Castle.
Speaking to ITV News’s Chris Ship on what would’ve been her "inquisitive" father’s 100th birthday Princess Anne added, "There were not many people who understood just how broad his interests were and how supportive he was to an astonishingly wide range of organisations. His perspective was really important."
"He probably asked more questions than he gave opinions. He was always good at that," she continued, before reflecting that it is "probably true" that she and Prince Philip are so similar - including with their fascination for how things worked.
"I think that’s probably true because I think if anything broke, there was always ‘have a look at this, see if you can mend it’. We didn’t throw things away, I’m that old. We have to re-educate ourselves on the basis of not throwing quite so much away. That often comes from your own family background," the Princess Royal said.
It seems that Princess Anne’s practical alternative career if she hadn’t been a royal is something Prince Philip likely would have approved of - and potentially would have explored himself.
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