Princess Anne enjoys a quiet life out of the spotlight and it has now emerged she often favours train rides rather than being driven around.
Celebrity interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has opened up about his encounters with members of The Royal Family who live in close proximity to his home in Gloucester.
Anne, 72, has recently been praised by Brits for her strength over the past 11 days since the death of her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
READ NEXT:Prince Philip scolded Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in brutal no-nonsense swipe
The Princess Royal accompanied the late Sovereign on her final journey from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace before her coffin was taken to Windsor Castle.
(Image: Getty Images)
Praising Anne, Laurence exclusively aid: “She lives quite near us and I occasionally share a train with her.
“I find her very switched on and so personable, she always remembers everybody and everything about everybody.”
This however isn’t Laurence’s only encounter with members of The Royal Family as he previously revealed that he was scolded by Prince Philip.
He had designed part of the flooring at Buckingham Palace but it appears the Duke who died in April 2021, aged 99, was not impressed.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Laurence said: “There was a bit in the corner, it was right at the beginning of my career.
“It was obviously something I was extremely proud of and I remember my family was very proud.
“I remember many years later, standing in that position with the Duke of Edinburgh because we were part of the Cutty Sark Trust, he was the main man and I was the celebrity patron.”
He continued: “Just trying to find something to say, we were waiting for people to arrive and I said ‘you know sir, I designed the floor that used to be here.’
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“He had his hands behind his back, he rocks backwards and forwards and said ‘Oh, I never liked it.'”
But while others may have been left completely taken aback by this, Laurence continued: “The sheer brutal honesty of it which was quite brilliant.
“I think anybody else would have fluffed it, I should have been brave enough and said ‘do you like the one that’s here now.’
“I would have been an interesting conversation.”
Having released his latest book, More, More, More, which focuses on maximalism, he said: “I mean, it’s kind of an anti-design book, I’ve literally sacked myself by doing this because it’s all about saying to everybody ‘don’t listen to people like me, we’re all about snake oil, what you’ve got to do is do it for yourself.'”
“I made the point in the book that Karl Lagerfeld who was the ultimate minimalist, was actually the greatest maximalist because he took minimalism and made it so maximal,” he gushed.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
