Princess Anne made a rare joint appearance with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence on Monday, as the pair joined senior royals to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.
In honour of her position as Commandant-in-Chief of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), Anne wore the military uniform with no decorations - the same one her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, wore for the Buckingham Palace Balcony appearance on VE Day 1945 as a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Services.
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It was made up of a green belted jacket layered over a button-up shirt and tie, and despite the photos being taken 80 years apart, the family resemblance between the hard-working mother and daughter duo was unmistakable.
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Never one to draw attention away from her royal work, Anne stayed true to her tried and tested hairstyle, pulling her long locks into a neat chignon underneath her hat and sporting a pop of colour with her ruby red lipstick.
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Anne has spent decades perfecting her beauty look, which she rarely changes, whether she's attending a daily royal engagement or making an appearance at a black tie event. This is why she has mastered a speedy routine that is apparently very difficult to replicate!
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Erin Doherty, who played Anne in The Crown, admitted she sometimes sat in the makeup chair having her hair preened for two hours, thanks to a ‘ladder wig’ that had to be fitted to add lots of volume, just like Anne's 70s hair.
Shocked, Anne replied that she's got her hair routine down to 10 minutes. "I'm thinking, 'How could you possibly take that long?' I mean, it takes me 10 or 15 minutes," Anne said.
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King Charles and Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were also in attendance on Monday, where celebrations included the parade, a flypast including the iconic Red Arrows, and a balcony appearance.
This will be followed by a tea party for veterans and members of the Second World War generation, including British and Commonwealth Armed Forces veterans, WRENs and Special Operations Executives, in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
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Events will continue throughout the week, with a special service at Westminster Abbey on Thursday, followed by a star-studded concert at Horse Guards Parade.
Queen Elizabeth's secret celebrations
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After Europe's victory was announced on 8 May 1945, the late Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret, aged just 19 and 14 respectively, wanted to join the celebrations outside the palace walls.
Their father, King George VI, allowed the teenage sisters to join the crowds in London alongside 16 trusted members of the royal household, including the Queen's cousin Margaret Rhodes and Margaret's future love interest Peter Townsend.
Margaret Rhodes said: "We crossed the forecourt at Buckingham Palace and got to the railings and there were these masses and masses of people. There was a general thing of, 'We want the King and Queen’, which we all frantically joined in with and were amazed when, five or 10 minutes later, the windows opened and they came out onto the balcony.
"It was like a wonderful escape for the girls. I don’t think they’d ever been out among millions of people. It was just freedom – to be an ordinary person."
