Princess Anne has been praised for her "classy" reaction after she finally awarded the Scottish rugby captain with a hug, after weeks of patiently waiting.
The Princess Royal, 75, who is patron of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), finally gave Sione Tuipulotu a warm hug following the country's Six Nations match against Ireland, as seen in recently released footage.
Anne had jokingly dodged his attempts at a hug not once, but twice, in footage that went viral on social media, with fans praising her professional approach.
On 14 February, she gave Sione a polite and affectionate tap on the shoulder instead, while on 7 March, she showed her cheeky side, wiggling her hands and, again, missing the hug.
But on 14 March, the Princess privately hugged Sione after the Ireland game, with the captain beaming in gratitude. "Sione finally gets his hug", wrote Scottish Rugby on Twitter in a viral post.
© Getty ImagesA very classy gesture
Princess Anne was praised as "classy" by royal fans, who gushed over the remarkably down-to-earth gesture from a member of the royal family.
On X/Twitter, one fan commented: "I saw that earlier. She seems a down-to-earth royal." "He’ll cherish that hug. Anne looks really happy," a second noted.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesAnother agreed: "You have got to love Princess Anne!" One person even joked: "Best love story of 2026 so far, hands down."
Royal protocol
It's typically believed that royal protocol dictates members of the Firm should not give out hugs while on public engagements.
Instead, royals are usually limited to handshakes, although, in more recent years, they have started to take selfies and pictures with well-wishers.
Anne, who is married to Sir Timothy Laurence, is often referred to as the "hardest-working" royal and is seen as King Charles's right-hand woman in his slimmed-down monarchy. Last year alone, she carried out 478 engagements, second only to her older brother, the King.
© Getty ImagesShe is a passionate and committed supporter of rugby, often travelling abroad to support the team, and regularly attending the Six Nations fixtures. However, in 2023, Anne admitted that she became patron of the SRU by "accident".
Speaking on her son-in-law Mike Tindall's The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, she said: "They asked me to go and open the East Stand [at Murrayfield Stadium] when it was built.
"I had about two weeks' notice because they had been let down, I can't remember who by, and as it happened, the horse was lame and I wasn't competing at the weekend, so I went. About a month later, they asked me if I wanted to become patron."
She continued: "Everything that rugby gives, I'm talking about exercise and team sports in general, but I do think rugby offers a variety of talents in one team. And you have to look out for each other and that's a different sort of responsibility within a team structure. They're not all the same, you can have different skills."
