Princess Anne’s unique fashion look at her brother King Charles’ coronation last year certainly made headlines.
Many believed the Princess Royal, 73, deliberately wore her large feather hat in an effort to block her nephew Prince Harry’s view of the event at the time.
But according to Robert Hardman’s new book, “The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy,” this was not the case.
Anne allegedly was concerned over the big cap and wanted to change it for something else — but ultimately didn’t have a choice in the matter.
“This is nonsense. Not only do the Lord Chamberlain’s Office not think like that, but the Princess Royal had only switched to that seat after her request for a speedy exit,” Hardman wrote.
Anne’s prestigious position as Charles’ Gold-Stick-in-Waiting allowed her to be a part of the procession of army personnel to Buckingham Palace right after the coronation at Westminster Abbey.
She famously got on her horse and led the 6,000 military men at the time.
According to Royal Central, the Gold-Stick-in-Waiting role “means that she is the King’s personal bodyguard for this procession.”
The position dates back to the 15th century, with the monarch protected by two rods made of gold and silver.
Anne rode behind the carriage carrying Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, after the religious service.
At the event, Anne was teased on social media for seemingly obstructing the Duke of Sussex’s view of his father getting crowned amid his ongoing fallout with the Firm.
The royal biographer quoted that Anne once said: “The hat was an interesting question.”
“I said: ‘Are you sure you want me to keep the hat on? Because it’s quite a decent-sized hat.’ And the answer was yes. There you go. Not my choice,” Anne reportedly said.
She previously quipped to CBC News that her Household Cavalry uniform would solve her “dress problem.”
“I have a role as the Colonel of the Blues and Royals in the Household Cavalry regiment as Gold Stick [in Waiting]. And Gold Stick was the original close protection officer,” she told the outlet.
“So that is a role I was asked if I’d like to do for this coronation, so I said yes,” she said.
Harry, 39, was demoted to the third row at the 1,000-year-old church during the May 6 ceremony, and sat next to his cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. His wife, Meghan Markle, was not in attendance, deciding instead to stay back with their children in Montecito, Calif.