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Expert: Anne's plea good decision
SLOUGH, England -- Princess Anne's decision to plead guilty to a charge that her dog bit two children in a public park "will go down well with the public," a royal expert says. "The fact that she pleaded guilty shows what sensible advice the royal family has received. Because otherwise it would have dragged on and made the Princess Royal look as if she was ready to combat this thing and make her look rather bellicose," Harold Brooks-Baker, Publishing Director of nobility handbook Burke's Peerage told Reuters. Anne, younger sister of heir to the throne Prince Charles, was divorced from her first husband Captain Mark Phillips in 1992 and married naval officer Laurence in the same year. Often accused of being prickly and rude, the princess is known as an enthusiastic equestrian and tireless charity worker. She has accumulated several speeding convictions, dating back to the 1970s, but these caused only minor embarrassment and did not result in court appearances. Britain's royals have been caught up in the sidelines of various other court scandals and intrigues in the past -- both distant and very recent. In the 1890s the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, testified in the so-called "royal baccarat scandal" over a gambling affair. Though he was charged with no crime, his mere appearance in court caused a scandal that rocked the monarchy. More recently, the royals have been plunged into controversy over the collapse of royal butler Paul Burrell's trial who was accused of stealing the late Princess Diana's possessions. Burrell was acquitted after the 11th hour intervention of the queen -- she told authorities she remembered he had told her he was keeping some of Diana's things for safekeeping -- raising questions about the monarchy's relationship with the law.
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