Princess Anne paid a sweet nod to Princess Eugenie with a touching appearance in Sheffield earlier this week. The Princess Royal, who will celebrate her 75th birthday next month, opened Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in the South Yorkshire city on July 23.
The accessible garden has been based on a design by Harris Bugg Studio, which won best in show at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023. Eugenie, 35, had corrective surgery for scoliosis when she was 12, and has been the charity’s royal patron since 2019. The royal, who was dressed in a green dress and a cream jacket for the outing, was joined at the opening by Sex Education actor George Robinson for the visit.
Anne’s visit comes just weeks after her niece visited Horatio’s Garden South West at Salisbury Hospital in May.
Taking to her Instagram account shortly after the visit, Eugenie highlighted the charity’s work and described her visit to the garden as “special.”
In her post, Eugenie, who is mum to two boys aged four and two, wrote: “To listen to some of the life-changing stories these patients go through and the long road to recovery really highlights just how important having access to nature and a healing [sic] activities to do in times of trauma.
“Supporting these charities can help touch the lives of patients in need for care.”
Eugenie proudly showed off her scoliosis scar in a v-shaped back dress at her wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018.
Ahead of her wedding day, Eugenie said in an interview with ITV’s This Morning: “I had an operation when I was 12 on my back, and you’ll see on Friday [at the wedding], but it’s a lovely way to honour the people who looked after me and a way of standing up for young people who also go through this.
“I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it’s really special to stand up for that.”