Britain's Princess Anne, younger sister of King Charles III, has been hospitalized after suffering a concussion, Buckingham Palace reported Monday.
The 73-year-old woman, known as the Princess Royal, suffered minor injuries and a concussion in an “incident” on Sunday at the Gatcombe Park estate in southwestern England, the palace said in a statement Monday. Anne has used the estate as her country home for decades.
Anne was hospitalized “as a precautionary measure for observation” and is expected to make a “full and rapid recovery,” the palace said, noting that she remains at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. The palace did not provide details about the nature of the “incident.”
“The King has been kept closely informed and joins the entire Royal Family in sending their warmest love and best wishes to the Princess for a speedy recovery,” the statement said.
Press Association of Great Britain. reported that the princess was walking within the protected perimeter of the estate when the incident occurred and that emergency services were called to the estate. She was treated at the scene before being taken to the hospital, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, the AP said.
Anne is the second eldest of the four children that Queen Elizabeth II had with Prince Philip. She was briefly third in line to the British throne, but she has since been displaced by her nephew, Prince William, and her three children, followed by Charles's second son, Prince Harry.
Anne, who competed in the Montreal Olympics and was the victim of a failed kidnapping attempt in the 1970s, was married to fellow equestrian Mark Phillips from 1973 to 1992; the couple had two untitled children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall. Within months of finalizing her divorce in 1992, Anne married former naval officer Laurence, becoming the second senior British royal to remarry after divorce. (Her predecessor was King Henry VIII four centuries earlier). Charles has since also remarried, marrying Queen Camilla in 2005.
The princess has taken on more royal duties since Charles announced in February that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. Her announcement came amid fervent speculation about her daughter-in-law Catherine De Ella, who revealed in March that she also had cancer and that she would be taking a break from royal duties.
The AP reported that Anne's royal engagements over the next few days will be postponed and she will not attend Charles' state dinner honoring Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako during his visit to the United Kingdom.
