From Hospital Visit to Royal Power Move: Princess Anne’s Private Meeting with King Charles Is Followed by a Rare Appointment That Has Courtiers Talking

• Princess Anne reportedly visited King Charles after he was hospitalized on March 27
• The Princess Royal’s daughter Zara Tindall previously told PEOPLE her mother and the King are “very close”
• The Sun said Princess Anne, 74, led an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace after seeing her brother

Princess Anne saw her brother King Charles after the monarch was hospitalized for side effects stemming from his treatment for cancer.

On March 28, Princess Anne, 74, visited the King at Clarence House in London, according to The Sun. The King, 76, spent the night at his private home following a brief hospitalization at The London Clinic the day prior, canceling his scheduled events for that afternoon and the next day.

Buckingham Palace announced on March 27 that King Charles experienced an adverse reaction to his routine treatment for cancer and subsequently spent time at the hospital.

“Following scheduled and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, The King experienced temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital,” the palace said in a statement on Thursday. “His Majesty’s afternoon engagements were therefore postponed.”

It added that he was back at Clarence House and as “a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s diary program will also be rescheduled.”

The King was seen leaving Clarence House on Friday, where he gave a wave from his car window. The Sun said that his sister Anne also departed the royal residence en route to host an investiture at Buckingham Palace a few blocks away.

The palace first announced the King’s cancer diagnosis in February 2024. Palace sources said before Christmas that his treatment would continue into the new year, “moving in a very positive direction and as a managed condition.”

King Charles and the Princess Royal are known to share a tight bond, with her daughter Zara Tindall exclusively telling PEOPLE before the King’s coronation in May 2023 that the two are “very close.” Underscoring this affection, the King made his only sister a Counsellor of State after his accession in September 2022, meaning that Princess Anne can execute constitutional duties in his stead if he is abroad or unwell.

Just a few days before the palace announced the news about the King’s hospitalization, he and Princess Anne were photographed together at a reception celebrating the 40th annual Butler Trust Awards at St. James’s Palace. The prizes recognize people working in prisons, probation and youth justice and Princess Anne has been the organization’s patron since its inception in 1985.

Princess Anne hosts the awards each year and distributed the honors before the reception. Her dedicated ethic is no surprise, as Anne has been ranked the “hardest working” member of the British royal family since 2021, according to informal fan tallies using the Court Circular, the official royal record of previous engagements.

Her workweek continued with an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on March 27, where she presented medals to Olympians Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Georgie Brayshaw and Lauren Henry. The four took home the gold for Great Britain at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, and Princess Anne awarded the athletes with their MBEs for services to rowing.

Anne has a special connection to the Olympics as she made history as the first member of the British royal family to compete in the international sporting competition on the British equestrian team in 1976. She traveled to France to watch the Paris Games in July and remains involved with Team GB behind the scenes as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

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The trip was Princess Anne’s first following a horse-related “incident” at her Gatcombe Park home in June in which she suffered a concussion and minor injuries. The princess was briefly sidelined from royal duties but still considered to be the “hardest working royal” of 2024.

“I don’t think there’s a retirement program on this particular life,” she told PA in an interview during her solo tour of South Africa in January.

“It really isn’t written in, no. It isn’t really an option, no, I don’t think so,” she added about the idea of scaling back.