Prince William & Kate Middleton’s Well Wishes to Princess Anne Didn’t Land the Way They Intended

Prince William and Kate Middleton have leveled up their social media game in the past few years to keep up with the trends, but one of their latest posts has landed with a thud. The royal couple was likely trying to sound encouraging of Princess Anne‘s return to palace duties after her head injury, but it came off rather insensitively.

On July 12, the Royal Family‘s X account reported that Anne had begun “a gradual return to duties today with a visit to @RDAnational’s Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College.” The next day, the Prince and Princess Of Wales’ account quote-tweeted the post, adding in a fun and causal way, “Super trooper! So great to see you back so soon! W & C x.” While the palace has been cagey about Princess Anne’s head injury after reportedly being kicked by a horse, it’s clear that it was a serious incident. She looked unusually frail and was sporting a noticeable, but fading, bruise on her left cheek.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have leveled up their social media game in the past few years to keep up with the trends, but one of their latest posts has landed with a thud. The royal couple was likely trying to sound encouraging of Princess Anne‘s return to palace duties after her head injury, but it came off rather insensitively.

On July 12, the Royal Family‘s X account reported that Anne had begun “a gradual return to duties today with a visit to @RDAnational’s Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College.” The next day, the Prince and Princess Of Wales’ account quote-tweeted the post, adding in a fun and causal way, “Super trooper! So great to see you back so soon! W & C x.” While the palace has been cagey about Princess Anne’s head injury after reportedly being kicked by a horse, it’s clear that it was a serious incident. She looked unusually frail and was sporting a noticeable, but fading, bruise on her left cheek.

The accident was bad enough that she was overheard by the Daily Mail telling people at her first event back, “I can’t remember a single thing about it.” According to The Daily Beast, her injury resulted in a four-day hospital stay, an absence from nine royal events, and notable memory loss. Princess Anne has always had the strongest work ethic in the royal family, and in a lean year of working royals due to illness, her scaled-back calendar impacted the palace deeply. It also feels slightly insensitive to push the hustle culture ideal on a 73-year-old woman — and even the Daily Mail pointed out William and Kate’s social media misstep.