She may be far, far removed from the throne, but Princess Anne could take
the crown as the hardest working — and most low key — royal in the family.
"Sitting still really, um, doesn't happen very much."
Princess Anne may be the second child of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh, but she is 16th in the line of succession to the throne — far
behind her brothers. The princess grew up during a time when male siblings were given
priority in the line of succession. This is why both of Anne's younger brothers,
Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, are ahead of her.
In 2013, the Succession to the Crown Act changed the way the
order of succession is determined, making gender no longer a factor.
Unfortunately for Anne, this act only applies to royal family members born after 2011,
so she remains in the 16th spot in the line of succession. When the Succession to the
Crown Act went into place, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron
spoke about why it was important to eradicate the outdated rules.
"The idea that a younger son should become monarch"
"simply because he's a man…"
"is at odds with the modern countries that we've all become."
Princess Anne is often considered the hardest-working member of the
royal family — but she took on even more responsibilities after the deaths of her
mother and father. Anne has since become an adviser to her brother,
King Charles III. This was nothing new for the princess, however, who has been known to take
pride in her royal duties. Historian Edward Owens told The New York Times:
"Growing up when she did, Anne appreciated that the monarchy could only survive if it
could justify its existence. She's always recognized that the family
can only enjoy the privileges of royal life if they work hard."
Anne's long list of responsibilities includes her involvement with over 300
organizations and military regiments. She has helped to create a number
of charities, including Save the Children, Carers Trust, Transaid,
and Riders for Health. The princess' children, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips,
opened up about her hard-working nature for ITV's special, "Anne: The Princess Royal at 70."
"Age is not a thing to her. It's very much, the more she keeps doing, the younger she'll stay."
Princess Anne's impressive equestrian career took her all the way to becoming an Olympic
competitor. Anne first began mastering horseback riding at 11 years old. By 21,
she was named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.
Her skills got her to the European Three-Day Event Championships twice:
In addition to earning an individual gold medal during her debut appearance in 1971, she was also
awarded silver medals for her skills in both the individual and team disciplines in 1975.
In 1976, Anne competed in the Montreal Olympic Games, and although she did not nab any medals,
her brief competitive stint led to her continued affiliation with the Olympics
years later. She is both the President of the British Olympic Association and a Member of
the International Olympic Committee. In a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair,
Anne revealed why she was so passionate about her chosen sport, saying:
"I thought if I was going to do anything outside of the royal family,
horses was likely to be the best way of doing it."
The British royal also went on to explain the importance of choosing the right horse, saying:
"The original horse I rode was bred as a polo pony and should never have been an event horse,
but it worked, so that was very satisfying. But I always knew it was going to be limited time."
In 1974, Princess Anne's courageousness was put on
full display. She was in a limousine with her then-husband, Captain Mark Phillips,
as well as her lady-in-waiting and her bodyguard, Inspector Jim Beaton.
While traveling to Buckingham Palace,
a Ford Escort stopped Anne's vehicle on the road. The armed would-be kidnapper,
Ian Ball, then exited the Ford and shot Beaton, along with Anne's driver and a journalist who
had attempted to help. Ball demanded that Anne get out of the car, but she refused.
"You were quite obstinate about…"
"I said I didn't… didn't think I wanted to go, thank you very much. I was scrupulously polite."
When another passerby jumped into the fray, Ball was distracted long enough for Anne to
escape out the other side of the car. She later recounted to authorities:
"I thought that if I was out of the car that he might move."
Following his arrest, Ball was admitted to a mental health facility.
Anne later reflected on how her equestrian training came
in handy during the incident, telling ITV:
"Strangely, I had thought about it before that, 'What would you do if?'"
"One thing about horses and sport is you have to prepare for the unexpected,
and you've got to think your way through the problems that are likely to occur."
Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips met in 1968 at a horse-riding event. Phillips,
although a commoner, had an impressive military background. After attending the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he became a second lieutenant while serving in the Army,
before ultimately rising to the rank of captain. Though the two didn't immediately
strike a romantic relationship, they ultimately tied the knot in 1973.
Their royal nuptials were unsurprisingly lavish and star-studded, as well as the
first to be televised. However, the media adoration surrounding the couple,
who later welcomed two children, unfortunately wouldn't translate into longtime marital bliss.
Both Anne and Phillips were subjected to scandal surrounding alleged infidelity.
In 1989, it was reported that Anne had been receiving romantic letters
from Timothy Laurence, an equerry for Queen Elizabeth at the time.
But the most shocking blow to the marriage came in 1991, when reports surfaced that
Phillips fathered a child with a teacher named Heather Tonkin. Phillips initially denied it,
but according to the Express, he had been making substantial payments to Tonkin for five years.
Anne and Phillips finally divorced in 1992 — and Laurence soon became the princess' second husband.
"Do you think you would have married out of a sense of duty?"
"No way."
As a member of the royal family, Princess Anne has always been expected to uphold
a favorable public image. Even as a young adult, she still had
to consider her relatives' opinions on her potential romantic partners. Take,
for example, when the princess began dating Olympian Richard Meade around 1970.
Prince Philip reportedly did not approve of the couple's 12-year age gap,
and a 20-year-old Anne eventually complied and parted ways with her older boyfriend.
According to royal journalist Angela Levin, who spoke with Channel 5 for its special,
"Princess Anne: The 7 Loves of Her Life," Anne "wasn't bitter."
Around this time, Anne also had an alleged fling with Andrew Parker Bowles — the man who,
at 11 years her senior, would later marry and divorce Queen Consort Camilla Parker
Bowles. This fling was short-lived in part because Andrew was Catholic,
and thus prohibited from marrying a royal in the line of succession.
After numerous brief romances and her ill-fated marriage to Captain Mark Phillips,
Anne swiftly moved on with now-husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Their 1992 wedding in Scotland was a much smaller affair than Anne's 1973 nuptials,
but luckily, these lovebirds have been able to find humor in their rocky past.
"It's quite amusing that she married first an army officer and then a naval officer,
so there must be something about the military that attracts her."
It seems that Princess Anne aimed to provide her children a sense of normalcy despite their
heritage, because she decided not to give them royal titles. She told Vanity Fair:
"I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there
are downsides to having titles. So I think that was probably the right thing to do."
Some might say that Anne has been successful in keeping her two children
out of the spotlight because they've gone on to live relatively quiet lives.
However, the princess' daughter, Zara Tindall, momentarily captured the world's attention
when she competed in the 2012 Olympics. Anne herself suggested that Tindall may
have inherited her athleticism from her parents, telling Vanity Fair:
"Her father had been a successful equestrian and won a lot more medals [than I] so you do
slightly wonder if having two parents who've been in that situation helped.
Zara was always a natural. [...] So she was quite rightly very successful."
Meanwhile, Anne's son, Peter Phillips, lives a private life as a businessman.
Princess Anne made history when she walked behind Prince Philip's casket during his royal
funeral procession in 2021. As the daughter of the prince, some might argue that Anne had
good reason to go against the years-old rule that only permits men to be part of
funeral processions within the royal family. The princess also released a statement following her
father's death that proved just how close she was with the late prince, which read in part:
"My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example
of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate."
Nearly a year and a half later, Anne lost her mother, Queen Elizabeth. She released
a statement at the time that revealed she had been with the queen in her last hours:
"I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest Mother's life. It has been an
honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys. Witnessing the love and respect
shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting."
Yet despite spending those emotional last moments with her mother, Anne flew from
London to Scotland to take care of her royal duties just one day after the queen's funeral.
Dedicated to charity
that helps ensure children around the world have access to food, healthcare, education,
and a safe environment. From 1970 to 2017, Princess Anne served as its president,
before becoming its patron. In a statement shared to the organization's website, she said:
"I am proud of my long association with Save the Children. [...] It is an organization
that embodies a spirit of compassion, openness and excellence. Its values are an inspiration;
its achievements, a source of hope for millions of children."
For her part, Anne has traveled to a number of countries as part of her work there,
including China, Cambodia, Botswana, Madagascar, and The Philippines,
and she even received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1990. The princess herself has
played no small role in the organization's philanthropic endeavors and successes.