The caption on this photo was, “Princess Anne goes to the fair,” but in fact Anne and her then-husband popped over to Ontario in late 1974 for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair — the largest such indoor event in the world. So while I love the idea of Anne grabbing the jet so she can go eat funnel cakes and swing a mallet to see if she can hit the bell — I absolutely believe she could, by the way — she was in fact working, and at something entirely different. The cloak is in the regimental colors of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s), of which she’s Colonel in Chief currently, though I can’t tell for sure when she was elevated to that honor. And even sadder, I couldn’t seem to find what colors these might BE. Possibly black and gold? (IS PRINCESS ANNE A STEELERS FAN? WE MUST KNOW.) Her tiara is one she was lent often by her mother until she was given it permanently in 1972; you might recall Zara wearing it at her wedding. In all, Anne looks great. I know that’s an Official Business cloak, but is it wrong that I also think it’s kicky as hell? I like to imagine her wandering her closet, a bracing scotch in her hand, idly touching all of these and wishing it weren’t a breach in protocol to pop this on for a trip to the stables. Then again, Anne, who would find out? You’re the detective in the family, after all.
