Princess Anne is back in the UK and has kicked off her 75th birthday celebrations in her signature way – by hosting a reception for the charities she has supported throughout her incredible royal career. The Princess Royal went on a solo trip to Barbados last weekend to carry out engagements, but on Thursday, she brought her charities together at a special Buckingham Palace forum.
The Princess is not expected to carry out any major public celebrations for her milestone birthday on August 15 and is understood to have requested to use the occasion to focus on the work of her patronages. The princess joked about thanking her brother, King Charles, for use of the Palace ballroom as she praised the work of the organisations.
Princess Anne said: “I’m not here because this was my choice. You very kindly asked me to become patron of your organisations, so it’s an honour for me to have all of you here.”
She continued: “I would just like to make the point that we are very fortunate that His Majesty has allowed us to use Buckingham Palace for this event tonight – and I need say that – it does help.”
She said in her speech to the charities: “The responsibility and respect that you give to your own organisations and the people who work for you and your beneficiaries is perhaps the key to what makes you so important.
“Respect and responsibility. Thank you very much for doing what you do.”
A Palace source said: “This personifies what Her Royal Highness cares about. She didn’t want to do anything for her birthday but bring her charities together to hear more about their work and how she can help them.”
The princess convened the forum and a reception in the Palace on Thursday for some 200 people, drawn from more than 100 of the 300-plus charities and organisations she currently supports.
The forum was arranged to discuss key topics such as challenges facing the sector, public trust in charities and the opportunities and risks presented by new technologies.
Among the charities were nine organisations of which Anne has become patron of in the last year – at an age when many people have already retired – including Friends of the Elderly and Naval Children’s Charity.
Colonel John Boyd, private secretary to the princess, addressing guests at the opening of the event, said: “There has been a significant amount of interest in Her Royal Highness’s 75th birthday celebrations. As you are aware, the princess has given decades of time and support to more than 400 charities and patronages.”
He continued: “It probably won’t come as a surprise given HRH’s commitment to you all, that the way the princess wanted to celebrate this milestone was to replicate what she’s done on previous significant birthdays and hold this charities forum to once again understand how she can help you at a time when the third sector is facing unprecedented challenges and transformations.”
Anne heard about the challenges facing organisations in terms of fundraising and also how charities have been experimenting with AI, with research showing 76% of charities used AI in 2025, up from 61% last year.
The princess is a key member of the King’s slimmed-down working monarchy and played an important role as she stepped up in support of Charles amid his cancer diagnosis in 2024.
She carried out her first public engagement in 1969, aged 18, when she opened an educational and training centre in Shropshire, and a year later began her longest association with a charity, becoming president of Save the Children and later patron.
