“PRINCESS ANNE IS SO SWEET” 🇨🇦👑
A Canadian Olympic medalist couldn’t stop smiling after sharing a “little chit chat” with Princess Anne during the medal presentation — revealing the royal leaned in with genuine warmth and thoughtful questions about the athlete’s journey.
No grand speeches. No rehearsed lines. Just quiet encouragement from the Princess Royal herself — a moment that proved once again why Anne remains one of the monarchy’s most respected and quietly admired figures.
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A Canadian freestyle skier at the Winter Olympics has shared how she enjoyed a ‘chit chat’ with Princess Anne, after the royal presented her with a bronze medal.
Megan Oldham, 24, from Ontario, described the Princess Royal, 75, as ‘so sweet’ after the pair engaged in brief conversation following the skier’s medal-winning performance on the slopes yesterday.
Sports fan Princess Anne, who was also at Twickenham this weekend to cheer on England’s rugby team in the Six Nations, jetted to Milan to watch the world’s biggest winter sports stars compete for medals in the Italian Alps.
Oldham later told Canadian journalist Ariel Halwani, in a clip shared by CBC Olympics, that the King’s sister had praised her for making the podium.
The athlete explained: ‘She was saying, “Congratulations, this is such a big accomplishment,” and she was also asking me about some other events that I have coming up, asking: “Are you competing again?”‘
After telling Princess Anne that she was indeed competing in the Big Air event this week, Oldham said the royal had ‘wished me luck’. Journalist Halwani quipped ‘[You had] a little chit chat with the Princess’.
Oldham secured her bronze medal in the Women’s Free Ski Slopestyle on Monday, placing behind gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland and China’s Eileen Gu.
On Saturday, Princess Anne was hailed as a ‘class act’ by royal fans for her low-key reaction to an unexpected standing ovation at Twickenham, ahead of England’s Six Nations trouncing of Wales.
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Olympic skier Megan Oldham has praised ‘sweet’ Princess Anne (Oldham is pictured with Princess Anne after the women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics)
The down-to-earth royal was left stunned when an entire stadium of rugby fans erupted into cheers for her during Scotland’s clash against Italy on February 7.
Having served as patron of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) for almost three decades, Anne is a firm fan of the sport and arrived at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico to support the team during their first game of the annual tournament.
But she was seemingly unprepared for the attention of onlookers and looked somewhat perplexed as legions of sporting fans cheered in her support.
The Princess Royal was seen looking puzzled before smiling and muttering a few words to the person next to her once she realised the cheers were for her.
Taking to Instagram to share their thoughts on the viral video, royal fans delighted in Anne’s ‘dignity and grace’, with one adding: ‘She didn’t realise the cheers were for her till someone told her. Love that smile.’
‘She looks so much like the Queen at times,’ added one onlooker. ‘Hardest working Royal.’
Meanwhile, other social media users praised Anne for being a ‘no frills princess’ who ‘just gets on with serving and representing’ the Royal Family.
‘Truly a magnificent human being and fantastic role model for women around the world,’ added another avid fan.
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Princess Anne congratulated Oldham after she claimed a bronze medal at the 2026 winter Olympics earlier this week
Anne has long held a reputation as the Royal Family’s most down-to-earth member and has often delighted royal fans with her quick wit and hilarious sense of humour.
And her surprise visit to the Six Nations game would certainly have offered a brief moment of respite to rugby fans north of the Border who were left disappointed by their 18-15 loss to Italy.
Previously described by the SRU as a ‘long-standing and committed supporter of Scottish rugby’, Anne has often travelled abroad to support the Scottish national team during the Six Nations tournament and rarely misses a match.
But beyond the stands, Anne has also routinely backed grassroots development and last year became patron of the Murrayfield Injured Players Foundation (MIPDF), which seeks to provide support to injured players across the Scottish game.
Announcing the Princess Royal’s involvement, Ian Rankin, MIPF chair, described Anne as a ‘dedicated supporter of the Scotland rugby team’.
He added: ‘Her passion for sport, her commitment to the game at all levels, is well documented and we are honoured to have her join us as our Patron.’
In 2023, during an appearance on her son-in-law Mike Tindall’s podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, Anne revealed how she first became patron of the SRU by ‘accident’.
She added: ‘They asked me to go and open the East Stand [at Murrayfield Stadium] when it was built.
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Pictured: Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
‘I had about two weeks’ notice because they had been let down, I can’t remember who by, and as it happened, the horse was lame and I wasn’t competing at the weekend, so I went.
‘About a month later, they asked me if I wanted to become patron.’
Anne’s Six Nations cameo came just a few days after her and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, attended the Winter Olympics’ opening ceremony in Milan where they delighted royal fans by waving enthusiastically to Team GB.
The Princess Royal, who is an acclaimed equestrian and even competed in the 1976 Olympics, is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and also President of the British Olympic Association.
As the first member of the British Royal Family to have participated in the Olympic Games, she is a frequent attendee of the Olympics and issued a touching video wishing Team GB luck ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
In a video posted to The Royal Family’s X (formerly Twitter) page, Anne said: ‘As your competitions begin, know that you will have the support of the nation. On behalf of us all, I wish you the very best of luck.’
