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Princess Anne visited the hospital where she was treated for a concussion to thank the medical staff.
On Thursday, the Princess Royal returned to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, England, where she spent five days in June 2024 due to a horse-related injury at Gatcombe Park estate, her country home.
The 74-year-old’s care team said that her head injuries were consistent with an impact from a horse’s head or legs.
Princess Anne, Princess Royal, right, is greeted by Maria Kane, the joint chief executive of North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospital’s Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, as she arrives for a visit to Southmead Hospital to thank the team of doctors, nurses and health professionals who treated her following her accident in June 2024, on Feb. 6, 2025, in Bristol, England. (Ben Birchall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“You’ve been filling in the blanks, which partly, from my perspective, is really useful to know what happened because I seriously don’t have any idea and, sadly, I don’t have huge memories of being in here either,” she told the staff in the intensive care unit (ICU), as quoted by the BBC.
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“I just know I was really well looked after, so thank you,” Anne shared. “But whatever you did, it seemed to work… the recovery being relatively straightforward, thankfully. That isn’t always true, so I’m really grateful.
“I’m also grateful in a weird sort of way that I remember nothing, because that has huge advantages. You can just carry on.”
The princess spent five nights in hospital after the accident on June 23, which left her concussed and bruised, and did not return to public royal duties until almost three weeks later. (Ben Birchall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
During her visit, the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip toured the hospital to learn about the medical unit. She met with doctors and nurses, heard the staff choir perform in the main public atrium and visited the staff garden.
According to the outlet, she also viewed the helicopter pad used by the Air Ambulance, a job that her nephew, Prince William, once had in East Anglia.
Southmead Hospital, about an hour’s drive from Gatcombe Park, specializes in major trauma, neurosciences, a hyperacute stroke unit, renal medicine, vascular surgery, urology, plastic surgery, burns and infectious diseases, according to a palace statement.
“You’ve been filling in the blanks, which partly, from my perspective, is really useful to know what happened because I seriously don’t have any idea and, sadly, I don’t have huge memories of being in here either.”
Princess Anne admitted she is still trying to put the pieces together of what happened at her country estate. (ARTHUR EDWARDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The BBC reported that the ICU admits more than 2,000 patients each year, making it one of the busiest in the country.
It was reported that Anne was in a field when she was injured by a horse and suffered temporary memory loss. Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment at the time.
After the injury, Anne was forced to cancel a planned tour of Canada, as well as several engagements in the UK. Within a month, she returned to work.
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Princess Anne, Princess Royal during Trooping the Colour on June 15, 2024 in London. (Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
In January, Anne told The Press Association she was still trying to put the pieces together of what happened.
“I know where I thought I was going and that was to go to the chickens,” she said, as quoted by Vanity Fair. “No, nothing to do with horses. I don’t have any idea what I was doing in the field, because I never normally went that way.”
The princess, who was air-lifted to the hospital, said she was lucky to have avoided a more devastating brain injury.
King Charles III and Princess Anne, Princess Royal attend the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 9, 2024 in London. (Chris J. Ratcliffe – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“You’re jolly lucky… if you can continue to be more or less compos mentis, and last summer I was very close to not being,” she said. “Take each day as it comes, they say. You are sharply reminded that every day is a bonus really.”
When asked if she suffered any long-term effects, Anne replied, “As far as I know, nobody else thinks so.”
“They haven’t been honest enough to tell me yet,” she joked. “So far, so good.”
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Princess Anne, Princess Royal, is seen here with her daughter, Zara Tindall, right. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
A source previously told OK! Magazine that Anne’s injury had left her daughter “shaken to the core.”
“She’s desperately hoping this memory [loss] is temporary,” the source claimed at the time of the hospitalization. “This has been a huge wake-up call for everyone in the family, and they’re rightfully distressed.”
“For the last several years, Zara Tindall has been worried that the palace has been relying too heavily on her septuagenarian mother,” Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” claimed to Fox News Digital at the time.
Princess Anne is a celebrated equestrian. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)
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“She has a point,” said Andersen. “Princess Anne is routinely described as the hardest working royal, racking up 457 engagements last year alone. She has always been fondly thought of as inexhaustible — even invincible. When Zara saw her mother lying in a hospital bed suffering from a severe concussion and memory loss, she was understandably shaken.”
“… Only so many shoes can drop before the institution of the monarchy itself begins to look awfully shaky,” Andersen added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
