Speaking to the Loose Women panel this Wednesday, Frank Skinner remembered an awkward moment that made him somewhat bond with Princess Anne as she was rewarding him with his MBE
Awarded with an MBE for his services to entertainment, Frank Skinner has another reason to remember his big day and it involves Princess Anne.
The comedian, 67, was on the set of Loose Women this Wednesday, April 24, one year after receiving the prestigious award from the Princess Royal. But when Christine Lampard questioned him about the encounter, Frank admitted he’d been so impressed by the only sister of His Majesty King Charles III, that he was disoriented.
“I’ve met a few in my time”, Frank remembered, referring to the numerous royals he had bumped into during his 37-year-long career. “But when you meet Princess Anne, I’m thinking ‘wow it’s princess Anne.'” He then quipped: “I wonder if I can get my hair that high.”
Frank Skinner told the Loose Women panel about an embarrassing experience with Princess Anne as she was awarding him an MBE for his services to entertainment
Frank explained that he had shared an awkward but hilarious moment with the Princess during the investiture ceremony, which took place at Buckingham Palace. “I’m looking at her and I’m getting my MBE so she says ‘thank you very much'”, Frank detailed. But the confusion quickly got to him as Princess Anne pinned his medal onto his jacket, prompting Frank to ask: “Do I not get my MBE?”
While she is known to be strong-willed, immensely private and one of the most hard working royals, Princess Anne is also reputed for her own flawless sense of humour. Frank was thus stunned when an amused Princess played along with his perplexed behaviour. “She said: ‘well you’re already wearing it – do you want another one?'”
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This then prompted Frank to reply: “Could you get another one?”, before telling Christine Lampard, Brenda Edwards, Coleen Nolan and Olivia Attwood that Princess Anne was obviously joking. “I’d been so distracted she could have put anything on me (…) I wouldn’t have noticed,” he added.
But this was his second awkward encounter with a royal as, weeks prior to receiving his MBE, Frank told Lorraine host Ranvir Singh about another embarrassing experience with Sophie Wessex, Duchess of Edinburgh and wife of Prince Edward.
In December 2022, reports claimed that Frank had been shocked by the royal when she allegedly criticised his performance at the Royal Variety event, the Three Lions with David Baddiel, telling him “not to give up his day job.”
At the time of their interaction, Frank had tried to explain he’d battled his way through the performance to which Sophie Wessex reportedly claimed he was clearly “not used to live audiences” before shooting him an awkward look as he argued back. He recalled his experience on Absolute Radio.
Thankfully, tensions were quickly squashed when Sophie Wessex wrote Frank a heartfelt apology letter. Speaking to Ranvir in early April 2023, Frank then said: “I think it was just a misunderstanding.” He had then detailed that Sophie Wessex’s letter was a handwritten Christmas card. “It was handwritten, really lovely, polite and I thought this is one of the greater things about the posh, they know how to do manners. I’m a big fan of hers now, she’s my favourite.”
