Princess Anne watching a Six Nations match

Princess Anne is often a royal on a mission, but despite her work ethic, even the Princess Royal can make the occasional mistake…

rincess Anne has an incredible work ethic, with the royal carrying out engagements all across the nation on most days of the week. However, with such a high workload, it’s inevitable that the Princess Royal might make the occasional stumble.

Last week, the royal met with members of the England rugby team ahead of the Calcutta Cup, a trophy given out during the Six Nations to the winning team when England and Scotland face each other. On this occasion, it was Scotland who won the cup, with Scotland triumphing with a score of 31-20.

One of the members of the English rugby team that Anne met was Joe Heyes, who plays as a prop. However, upon meeting him, the royal ended up confusing the rugby ace with former player Joe Marler, who made the final of The Celebrity Traitors last year.

Speaking about the incident afterwards, Joe said: “She thought I was Joe Marler which was… quite upsetting. She said: ‘You’re awfully funny on TV.’” The rugby player admitted to being a bit “starstruck” when he met Anne, joking: “Who am I to correct her? I didn’t really know what to say. I almost went with it.”

Princess Anne shaking hands with rugby players© The RFU Collection via Getty Ima
Anne mistook Joe Heyes (far-left) for Joe Marler

Both Joes do look remarkably similar, with the pair having a hulking frame, necessary for playing in their respective positions in the contact sport, as well as both sporting beards. This isn’t the first time that Heyes has dealt with the issue, adding: “I’ve had all sorts about me looking like Joe Marler, but not from a royal.”

While Marler was part of the England squad for 12 years, Heyes is relatively new to the squad. He made his debut back in 2021, and has 20 caps for the team.

Joe Marler on Celebrity Traitors

Joe, who retired from playing rugby 15 months ago, was one of the celebrities on the first season of The Celebrity Traitors. The star competed against the likes of Sir Stephen Fry, Paloma Faith, Tom Daley and Jonathan Ross.

The 35-year-old made it all the way to the final alongside Alan Carr, Nick Mohammed, David Olusoga and Cat Burns. Despite playing a game as a Faithful, his fellow contestant Nick ended up falling suspicious of him, and the rugby player found himself banished from the game.

Speaking about appearing alongside Nick on Celebrity Gogglebox, the star joked: “When they told me I’d be doing Celebrity Gogglebox with Nick for Stand Up to Cancer, I felt it would be a great opportunity to finally stare him in the eye and ask why he gleefully betrayed me on national television.”

Sharing his reasoning with The Guardian following the final, Nick explained: “I think I was relatively astute during it. But when it came to Joe, during those last two or three days, I became convinced I was being played.

Joe Marler in a checkered shirt on Celebrity Traitors© CREDIT LINE:BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Joe Marler made the final of The Celebrity Traitors last year

“All of him saying, ‘I want it to be just you and me in the final’ – maybe that was him trying to string me along because he was a traitor and he wanted to win. And then everything becomes confirmation bias.”