Princess Anne has thrown herself into the role ever since she became patron of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) in June 1986. She regularly attends home and away matches – often visiting team training sessions, and boosting team spirit of players.
Royal watchers say former England rugby player, Mike Tindall, is very close to his mother-in-law because she is a massive rugby fan, and they love chatting about the game during family get-togethers.
Mike Tindall once revealed: “She has a great sense of humour and she is very knowledgeable about many things, especially rugby.”
Often pictured enjoying matches in the UK, Princess Anne rarely misses a Scotland game and can sometimes be seen in the stand at Murrayfield, draped in tartan – much to rugby fans’ delight.
Here are five times, Princess Anne was pictured having fun at the rugby.
1) Princess Anne greets Scotland players during Six Nations, 2023
Boosting morale comes naturally to Princess Anne, as she is often seen meeting Scotland rugby players before rugby matches.
Princess Anne met and shook hands with the players before the Six Nations Rugby match between Scotland and Wales on home turf at Murrayfield Stadium on February 11, 2023, in Edinburgh.
The royal wore a tartan suit in support of her team. Anne wore a tartan jacket too on this occasion, but the print was more subtle and the colours darker. She combined this with a matching pair of trousers, which also featured a subtle tartan print.
As for accessories, Anne had a large, gold brooch pinned to the collar of her jacket.
2) Princess Anne shares a laugh with Duchess Sophie at the Commonwealth Games, 2022
On the first day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games at the Coventry Stadium, Princess Anne delighted fans by attending the Men’s Rugby Sevens game.
The Royal Family was out in force as she was pictured in the stands, sharing a laugh with Duchess Sophie, the Duke of Edinburgh and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
Anne donned a cream outfit, and also wore her signature sunglasses, which she often wears during public engagements taking place outside.
The Princess Royal was also photographed visiting the Athletes village and talking to members of teams and individuals coming from some of the 72 different territories taking part in sporting events.
3) Princess Anne presents rugby team GB with silver medals at Olympics, 2016
The Princess travelled to Rio, Brazil to support Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games.
After awarding the British side with their silver medal for the men’s Rugby Sevens, Princess Anne then presented 12 gold-winning Fijians their medals on the monumental occasion for the South Pacific nation.
As the British royal offered a medal in each of the players’ directions they knelt down on the podium and clapped three times out of respect for the Brit.
As each player received their medals they exchanged a few words with Princess Anne, who smiled throughout the ceremony.
4) Princess Anne shares rugby memories with Mike Tindall
The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, hosted by Mike Tindall last year, also featured Princess Anne as they bonded over their love for rugby.
Speaking about her patronage of the SRU, Princess Anne explained: “They asked me to go and open the East Stand [at Murrayfield] when it was built, at about two weeks’ notice because they’d been let down. As it happened [my] horse was lame, so I wasn’t competing at the weekend, so I accepted About a month later they wrote and asked if I’d like to become patron.”
Former England Rugby Union player, Mike Tindall, sat down for a candid chat with wider members of the Royal Family.
5) Princess Anne presents soldiers with military medals ahead of Six Nations Rugby, 2011.
A smiling Princess Anne greeted soldiers ahead of the Six Nations Rugby at Twickenham Stadium in 2011.
The Princess Royal later presented military medals to the servicemen and service women.
Prince Harry was also present at the match, greeting his royal aunt with a kiss on the cheek.
Those who have followed the Princess Royal’s younger years might not be surprised by the attachment to the Scottish rugby team and images of the royal at matches, are often shared on the Royal Family’s social media accounts.
