Princess Anne's extraordinary four-word response to royal butler's epic phone call blunder

A former royal butler has offered an insight into Princess Anne's 'quick-witted and fun' side, remembering the four-word reply she gave in response to an awkward telephone blunder

Princess Anne is known for her no-nonsense approach - and even royal butlers have felt the brunt of her dry wit.

From barbed insults to wry putdowns, the Princess Royal has earned a reputation as a royal not to be trifled with. And she's apparently just as waspish behind palace walls.

Former royal butler Grant Harrold previously worked for King Charles at Buckingham Palace - but also has plenty of memories of the monarch's sharp-tongued younger sister, who he remembers as being 'a very down-to-earth, normal person'.

And one humorous incident in particular left Grant blushing redder than a beefeater's coat... The 74-year-old's personality came through following one awkward telephone blunder, when Grant failed to realise he was speaking directly with Anne herself.

Explaining how the error came about, Grant told the Daily Express: "Anne has always been known for being quick-witted and fun. Usually, Buckingham Palace would ring up and connect a member of the Royal family to speak to the prince [now King Charles]. What I mean by that is we would talk to the switchboard, and then they would connect the person."

He continued: "On one occasion, a voice said 'Princess Anne', and I thought, 'Yes, Princess Anne, that's fine. I can handle her,' and then the voice said, 'This is Princess Anne'. Luckily, I think she found it quite funny, but I also called her 'Sir'! She gave a little chuckle, probably at the fact I was so nervous and tongue-tied."

Grant served as butler for the then-Prince Charles between the years 2004 to 2011, and also worked for Prince William and Princess Kate during a tenure at Highgrove. His close proximity to the royals has afforded him a unique insight into the family as individuals that members of the public rarely get, however, he's revealed that Princess Anne is just the same in private as she is at royal events.

Grant shared: "She's exactly what you see in public, there's not really a different side to her. Obviously, everyone likes her, she's very much like her mother and her father with very similar traits to both of them.

"She's a hard worker, and is a very down-to-earth, normal person - she didn't even want her children to have Royal titles. She drives herself from A-B and goes out and about on her own. She's as modern a Royal as you can get, and behind closed doors, she's just like everyone else. She's a real family person and loves her animals."

Prince William has previously offered an amusing insight into his eccentric Aunt Anne's 'terrifying' side, which would apparently emerge during family summer holidays in Balmoral. During an appearance on Mike Tindall's The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, the Prince of Wales recalled how, during his childhood, his sporty aunt would race him around the Scottish castle.

Rather than let her young nephew beat her, however, Anne's competitive side would ultimately win out. William remembered that Anne was 'quite quick' during these fun yet apparently intense races, and that the 'look that [she] had on [her] face was quite terrifying'.

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