Princess Anne to miss Beijing Winter Olympics

Buckingham Palace says decision 'due to the flight and Covid travel restriction difficulties'

Princess Anne: In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: '“Her Royal Highness sends her best wishes for the Games to the British athletes and supporting officials.”
Princess Anne: In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: '“Her Royal Highness sends her best wishes for the Games to the British athletes and supporting officials.” Credit: Getty Images Europe

Princess Anne will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics because of “travel restriction difficulties”, it has been announced.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said the Princess Royal was “disappointed” that she would not be able to attend the Games or the meetings of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the Chinese capital. The decision comes as the row over human rights in China increases.

Princess Anne became the first royal to compete in the Games when she entered the equestrian three-day event at the 1976 Montreal event.

Last month, the Princess Royal, who is a member of the IOC and president of the British Olympic Association, met with IOC representatives to discuss her role at the Games. 

But on Saturday, a palace spokesman said: “The Princess Royal is disappointed she will not be able to attend the IOC meetings in Beijing ahead of the winter Olympics this year, nor the Games themselves. 

“This is due to the flight and Covid travel restriction difficulties in getting to and from the Games without losing too much of her busy work schedule at home.  

“Her Royal Highness sends her best wishes for the Games to the British athletes and supporting officials.”

Diplomatic boycott 

The move comes after the Prime Minister announced in December that there would “effectively be a diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Olympics given that no UK ministers or officials will be attending.

Boris Johnson said the Government had “no hesitation” in raising concerns over human rights abuses with China.

He told the Commons: “There will be effectively a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. No ministers are expected to attend and no officials.

“What I can tell the House is I don’t think sporting boycotts are sensible and that remains the policy of the Government.”

Both the US and Australia have announced diplomatic boycotts over Beijing’s record on human rights, particularly the treatment of the Uighur Muslim community in Xinjiang province.

Andy Anson, the chief executive of the British Olympic Association, had also said the organisation would not stand in the way of any athletes who wish to express their personal opinions at the games.

“We definitely want our athletes to be respectful of the athletes they are standing on the podium with, [but] we are not going to stifle their freedom of expression,” he said.

“We’ve told the athletes all along that we’re very happy for them to express themselves but to be sensible and to touch base if they feel that they’re doing anything at all controversial.”

China: these allegations are fabricated 

Amnesty also criticised the IOC’s handling of the Peng Shuai case. The tennis player’s wellbeing has become a major source of concern after she disappeared from public view after she posted allegations on social media that she was sexually assaulted by a senior member of the Chinese government.

The IOC came under pressure to exert its influence and engage the Chinese government over Peng, and has held video calls with her which, it says, establish that she is safe and well.

China's government has denied any wrongdoing in Xinjiang and said allegations are fabricated.

Wang Wenbin, its foreign ministry spokesman, said at the time that Australian politicians were engaged in "political posturing”.

"Whether they come or not, nobody cares," he added.

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