Growing up as a member of the Royal Family must be an unusual experience. While much royal drama plays out in the public eye, royal experts often take fans behind-the-scenes of life in the palace. And according to one royal biographer, two royal siblings were known to argue often when they were younger.
In the book, My Mother and I, royal expert Ingrid Seward discussed King Charles and Princess Anne’s unexpected experience growing up as siblings in Buckingham Palace.
“Princess Anne was technically a spare until the birth of [ex-]Prince Andrew, in February 1960, but while she was second in line for almost nine and a half years, she made sure she was first in everything else,” Seward explained.
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Unsurprisingly, Anne became “hugely competitive with Charles when they were young.” According to Seward, The King “never stood a chance against his willful sister, even though she was two years younger.”
Anne became “hugely competitive with Charles when they were young.”
(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Ingrid Seward
‘My Mother and I’
Unfortunately for Charles, Princess Anne was quite the competitor.
“Everything he had, she wanted, and according to Anne they fought ‘like cats and dogs,'” Seward shared.
The royal biographer continued, “When she was really worked up, she would throw things at Charles and lie on the floor kicking with sheer temper until she got what her heart desired.”
Despite the competition between them, “Charles was surprisingly gentle with his boisterous sister, and for all their squabbles they got along reasonably well,” Seward explained.
The King “never stood a chance against his willful sister, even though she was two years younger.”
(Image credit: Hannah McKay – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The royal biographer continued, “But if Anne was more than her brother’s equal in the battlefield of the nursery, it was Charles who commanded the greatest attention. He was born to be King and that fact was subtly drummed into him and his sister from earliest memory.”
Luckily, Charles and Anne appear to have left their competitive nature in the past since then.