Princess Anne’s injuries could be “more serious” than Buckingham Palace is admitting, former royal correspondent Michael Cole has claimed.
The Palace announced this afternoon that the Princess Royal has sustained “minor injuries and concussion” whilst at the Gatcombe Park estate. GB News understands that the incident is consistent with an impact with a horse’s head or legs.
In a statement released on Monday, Buckingham Palace said: “The Princess Royal has sustained minor injuries and concussion following an incident on the Gatcombe Park estate yesterday evening.
“Her Royal Highness remains in Southmead Hospital, Bristol, as a precautionary measure for observation and is expected to make a full and swift recovery.
Princess Anne is ‘no stranger’ to equine related incidents, Michael Cole has claimed
GB News / PA
“The King has been kept closely informed and joins the Royal Family in sending his fondest love and well-wishes to The Princess for a speedy recovery.”
Speaking to GB News, Cole told hosts Emily Carver and Tom Harwood that the Princess having to stay in hospital overnight indicates that the incident was “not a minor matter”.
He explained: “She has stayed overnight and I think that should be an indication that this was no minor matter.
“As we all know, she’s quite a tough cookie and for her to go to a hospital in Bristol means that there was a cause for that.”
Buckingham Palace have announced that the Princess Royal suffered ‘minor injuries and concussion’ on Sunday evening
PA
Cole also noted the nature of the injuries, thought to be caused by a horse, and how the Princess Royal is “no stranger to equine accidents”.
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The former royal correspondent told GB News: “Obviously, they have to keep it under observation with a concussion. It could be just a bang on the head and you’re seeing stars, or it may be something more serious.
“I’m quite sure the doctors took the proper, cautious approach to it all and just said, ‘well stay here overnight, we’ll have a look at you in the morning and we’ll get you home as soon as possible’.”
Praising Princess Anne’s strong nature, Cole noted how the royal is “a no-nonsense person” and has been in hospital before after suffering a horse-related injury in 1976.
Cole added: “Princess Anne is no stranger to equine accidents. I remember vividly when the Olympics were in Moscow.
Michael Cole says Princess Anne is a ‘tough cookie’ and wished her a ‘speedy recovery’
GB News
“She was competing in the three day event in Kyiv, as I recall, and there was a very difficult downhill jump and she came off a horse and was taken to hospital.”
He continued: “The captain of the team had to sort of interpret what was wrong with her to the surgeons who attended her then. So she will be very robust about this. She will have taken it as all part of the sport and she will be very, very willing to get out of there.”
Wishing the Princess a “speedy recovery”, Cole concluded: “I’ve been around the world with her and she’s always been no-nonsense person in everything she does, and all I think we can do is wish her well for a speedy recovery and that indeed is what the Palace is indicating.”
