SHE’S one of the most hardworking royals in the family but she refuses to shake hands with the public.

Despite the Queen happily shaking hands with people she meets, Princess Anne is very reluctant to do the same.

In the new behind-the-scenes documentary on the royal family, Queen of the World, Princess Anne reveals the reason behind her lack of contact.

Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter admits that it is simply down to royal etiquette, and says in the show: “We never shook hands”.

This was in reference to the royal family refraining from the tactile greeting, until the Queen relaxed the rules in the 1970s.

She added: “The theory was that you couldn’t shake hands with everybody, so don’t start. So I kind of stick with that, but I noticed others don’t.

“It's not for me to say that it's wrong, but I think the initial concept was that it was patently absurd to start shaking hands.

“And it seems to be that it's become a shaking hands exercise rather than a walkabout if you see what I mean."

Nowadays we often see the likes of Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle regularly grasping the hand of those they meet – and probably making their day.

It wasn’t the only part of public encounters that Princess Anne has a problem with.

She said that royal fans using technology is also a bugbear of hers.

Princess Anne explained: “Phones are bad enough, but the iPads—you can’t even see their heads.

"No idea who you’re talking to. I either don’t bother or just say, 'Look, if you want to ask…I suggest you put that down.' It is weird.

"People don’t believe they’ve experienced the event unless they’ve taken a photograph.”

As of May this year, Princess Anne was officially the most hardworking royal for 2018.

By that month she had racked up 75 days of service, followed by the Earl of Wessex on 59, Prince Charles on 52, Prince William on 33, and the Queen on 26.