Princess Anne's 'lovely, maternal' response to crying child who went on to become TV star

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Journalist Kate Thornton has opened up about her youthful encounter with Princess Anne, recalling the time when, as a 10 year old, she was overwhelmed with emotion at Gatcombe Park.On The Royal Beat, Thornton reminisced about how Princess Anne, now 74, offered her consolation when young Kate was tearful during their meeting.Thornton had the opportunity to meet the Princess Royal after partaking in a sponsored silence to fundraise for Save The Children.

Reflecting on the royal's compassionate response to her distress over feeling overweight in her school dress, the TV presenter shared intimate details of an eventful year for Anne, who has stepped up her Royal engagements amidst health concerns for King Charles and Princess Kate.Princess Anne has been notably active, stepping in for her brother at big events, such as commemorating the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden in the Second World War.

Describing the momentous meeting, Thornton said: "I had the great pleasure as a school girl to meet Princess Anne. I'd raised some money for Save The Children by taking part in a sponsored silence...I don't think I was more than 10.""We get to Gatcombe Park and I was quite chubby as a child and I was bawling my eyes out on the way there in this school dress with a belt that wouldn't do up and I thought 'I'm going to meet a princess and I'm overweight'.

And the local paper were covering it."Anyway, we get to Gatcombe Park, go in and were greeted by Princess Anne who just took one look at me and said, 'Are you OK? ' [as] she could see I had been crying.