Princess Anne

[gremlin45]

They possibly went with Anne because she's known for being extremely forthright. If there's an elephant in the room, I'd think Anne would go straight to it.

[americanchai]

I feel like of all people, the person I would not make up an unprovable rumor about would be Anne as I think she would personally punch you in the nose rather than sic the Palace on you.

I agree with Auroranorth that "Lady" Colin is incredibly unreliable and this is how she has made her living for many years - by pretending to be close to the royals.

[Lwaxana]

If it wasn't Anne, Harry could just call Gayle and tell her so. And striking her out would just narrow down the possible suspects to William. So I don't think this is the RF using her as a sacrificial lamb.

[Ginger]

If it were Anne, it would destroy Meghan's already specious linking of the "concerns and conversations" to Archie's title and security status, because Anne would have no influence over those decisions whatsoever.

[royalwave]

When Harry said he didn't want to name the person because it would be very damaging to them, I think we were supposed to assume it was someone in a prominent enough position to be spectacularly damaged. Ruling out the Queen & Philip meant to me that it had to be either Charles, William, Kate, or possibly Camilla.

You couldn't really do much more damage to Andrew, and I think everyone expects Anne to be prickly so I'm not really sure how much damage the news would do to her either. You've got the likes of Lady Colin out there already brushing it off as general comments about unsuitability vs. a discussion that was about race or skin tone, and that sounds believable to me because Anne didn't really think Diana was a good fit either. I can totally see her being in William's camp that things were moving too quickly.

Anyone other than the couples in the direct line of succession don't really hold that much influence on the direction of the monarchy. They're supporting players, even if they may do quite a bit of work. And Harry & Meghan looked incredibly friendly with the Wessexes at their final official appearance, so it seems really unlikely to be either of them.

Of course, you could also take Harry's comments about "damage" with a grain of salt. Maybe in his mind it would be very damaging no matter who the person was, but to me casting speculation over the family as a whole as he did is no less damaging than naming an individual supporting player in particular. It's actually probably worse for the monarchy to leave everyone hanging than it would be to just say "it was Princess Anne" and move on. So again, I come back to thinking it was one of the top 4.

[Auroranorth]

While Anne was prickly in her younger years, at this point I think she's pretty well-respected. She's done a lot of work for Save the Children over the years, and she's really a workhorse when it comes to royal engagements.

I can't say whether she actually did say it, though as Ginger points out, Anne's opinion would have no bearing on Archie's security or status one way or the other. Though, as I said before, considering the source, I'm highly skeptical.

[Ladybug]

Princess Anne looking very much at home on the HMS Albion.

[featherhat]

Now I really want this:

link

I can't believe that a 70 year old looks so at home on an amphibious warship.

[PearlySweetcake]

I think that when Charles finally ascends the throne, much of his mum's former duties will be split between him and his sister. He'll get the throne and scepter items; she'll do all the badass stuff. And in 50 years, it will be the same with George and Charlotte.

[luckylexie]

Anne looks great! I wanna be her when I get (even) older.

OK, so… her last name is H.R.H.? Daniel Craig’s says “Craig.” So Harry wasn’t wrong when he wrote that on Lili’s birth certificate?