Why Queen Elizabeth's Daughter Felt 'Relief' at Monarch's Funeral

Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, Princess Anne, has revealed in a new documentary that she felt "relief" during the late monarch's funeral.

Anne, Elizabeth's second child who is nearly two years younger than her brother King Charles III, became a leading member of the royal family throughout the mourning period after the queen's death on September 8, 2022.

Anne (sometimes referred to by her alternative title "the Princess Royal") was with her mother when she died at Balmoral Castle and accompanied her body on its final journey from Scotland to Windsor where she is buried at St George's Chapel.

The princess has given a rare interview about her mother's death in a documentary which will air in Britain on December 26 charting the first year of her older brother's reign, titled: Charles III: The Coronation Year.

Speaking about Balmoral Castle, the monarch's private residence in Scotland that was purchased by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1852, Anne said the family "always enjoyed" their time together there, according to the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.

"We spent a lot of time there in our youth and a lot of it was probably a more independent life than anywhere else," she said. "I think there was a moment when she [the queen] felt it would be more difficult if she died at Balmoral. I think we did try to persuade her that that shouldn't be part of the decision-making process. So I hope she felt that was right in the end, because we did."

In another part of her interview, Anne reportedly discussed her mother's state funeral at Westminster Abbey and committal service at St George's Chapel, highlighting the moment where the monarch's Imperial State Crown was removed from her coffin before it was lowered into the royal vault.

"When he takes the crown off the coffin, I rather weirdly felt a sense of relief," she said. "Somehow that's it, finished. That responsibility being moved on."

Charles' decision to let cameras follow him in his royal work for a public documentary is not without precedent.

In 1969, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were shadowed for a year by a film crew to make the Royal Family documentary that has become the subject of fascination in recent years, after it was effectively removed from the public domain.

The royal family retained the copyright of the film, and after it earned them criticism for being too revealing after its first round of releases, permission for rebroadcasting has not been given.

Elizabeth took part in a number of other fly-on-the-wall documentaries throughout her reign. In 1992 she was followed again for a year for the film Elizabeth R and in 2007 was shadowed for a five-episode series called Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work.

Following this example, Charles has been the subject of a number of documentaries and his youngest son, Prince Harry, released his own docuseries in December 2022 with Netflix.

Speaking about Charles' upcoming project, which has been produced by the BBC with royal biographer Robert Hardman, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Newsweek that it is likely to be a piece of "excellent public relations for the royal family."

"The documentary on King Charles' first year as monarch, which includes the coronation and unique footage of the rehearsals, will become an important part of the historical record of the event," he said.

"This is likely to be excellent public relations for the royal family, since they are our First family, and it provides historic insights into an occasion which attracted 100 heads of state and representatives from 200 countries, this is will be particularly fascinating."

"Britain is at its best when it puts on spectacular ceremonial," he continued, adding that the show will also give the public "a glimpse of the day-to-day activities of the royal family and how it has adjusted after the death of the queen."

"We have a monarchy which attracts worldwide attention like no other. So much of the coverage, however, is gossip, innuendo and speculation," he concluded. "This is a serious documentary which shows unseen footage from a ceremony watched by 18 million people in Britain. It will also draw in viewers worldwide too. "

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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