FILE PHOTO: Britain's Princess Royal, Anne attends the Not Forgotten Association Annual Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain. Picture date: Friday May 17, 2024.Victoria Jones/Reuters
Princess Anne has been released from hospital and is recovering at her home at Gatcombe Park, Buckingham Palace officials announced on Friday.
Anne sustained minor injuries and a concussion last Sunday evening after an incident at Gatcombe Park, an estate where she lives with her husband, Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence, and their children.
According to royal sources the princess suffered wounds to the head consistent with the impact from a horse’s head or leg. She was taken by ambulance to Southmead Hospital, Bristol, for tests and treatment. No further details have been released.
“The Princess Royal returned home to Gatcombe Park from Southmead Hospital earlier this morning,” the palace said in a statement Friday. “She will remain at Gatcombe for a further period of rest and recuperation and will return to public duty when her medical team recommends it is safe and comfortable to do so.”
In the statement, Vice-Admiral Laurence added: ‘I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the team at Southmead Hospital for their care, expertise and kindness during my wife’s short stay.”
Anne was to have been in St. John’s this weekend to commemorate the centennial of the Newfoundland National War Memorial on July 1. However, doctors advised that she cancel the trip.
It’s not clear if she will make a future trip although palace officials have said that plans were being examined in close consultation with the Canadian government to determine how the Princess’s proposed engagements may be adapted.
Anne is the latest senior royal to seek medical care. Her brother, King Charles III, and the Princess of Wales have been undergoing treatment for cancer.
While Charles has resumed some engagements, Catherine has remained largely out of public view. She did make an appearance during the Trooping the Colour parade on June 15, which marks the celebration of the monarch’s birthday.
In a statement before the Trooping, Catherine said she was “not out of the woods yet,” and had “good days and bad days.”