The Princess Royal, the second child and only daughter of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Clarence House, London, on 15 August 1950, when her mother was Princess Elizabeth, heir presumptive to the throne. She was baptised Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise at Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950.
She received the title Princess Royal from The Queen in June 1987; she was previously known as Princess Anne. Her Royal Highness is the seventh holder of the title.
The Princess started her education in Buckingham Palace where The Queen had moved with her family shortly after her accession. In 1962, Her Royal Highness made a private educational visit to France and the following year she joined Benenden School, a boarding school in Kent. The Princess began to undertake public engagements alone when she was eighteen, having left school.
The Princess Royal is President or Patron of some 340 organisations. She is also Commandant-in-Chief of the St John Ambulance (Youth), Colonel-in-Chief of The King's Royal Hussars, The Royal Corps of Signals, The Royal Logistic Corps and The Royal Army Veterinary Corps. She is also Colonel of The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) and Royal Colonel, The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and Royal Colonel, 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (TA), Chief Commandant for Women in the Royal Navy, Commandant-in-Chief of The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (The Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps), Honorary Air Commodore, Royal Air Force Brize Norton and Colonel in Chief of a number of Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Regiments. She was elected as Chancellor of the University of London in 1981 in succession to her grandmother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She has also been Chancellor of the of the University of Edinburgh since March 2011, the University of Highlands and Islands since October and Harper Adams University since December 2013. The Princess is also a Past Master of a number of City Livery Companies.