Anne, Princess Royal
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- This article is about the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II. For the daughter of King George II, see Princess Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.
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Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise
Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne, Princess Royal, LG, LT, GCVO, QSO (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Laurence, formerly Phillips, née Mountbatten-Windsor), styled HRH The Princess Royal (born August 15 1950), is a member of the British Royal Family. She is the seventh holder of the title Princess Royal. She has been a princess with the style of Her Royal Highness since her birth and is currently ninth in the line of succession to the British throne.
The Princess Royal is most famous for her charitable work. She is the only member of the British Royal Family to have competed in the Olympic Games.
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Early life
Template:British Royal Family Princess Anne on August 15, 1950 at Clarence House, London. Her father is His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Her mother was Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (now Queen Elizabeth II), the eldest daughter of King George VI.
Shortly before the birth of her elder brother, Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1948, King George VI issued Letters Patent granting the titular dignity of Prince or Princess of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the style Royal Highness to any children born to the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Princess Anne was educated in Buckingham Palace and then at the private boarding school Benenden in Kent.
Princess Anne
On February 6, 1952, Anne's grandfather, King George VI died, and her mother ascended the throne. Anne was now styled Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne. Given her young age, she did not attend her mother's coronation. Princess Anne began to undertake royal and official duties as a teenager in the late 1960s.
Anne was also keen on horses, and equine pursuits have been an important part of her life. At the age of 21, she won the individual European Three-Day Event at Burghley and was voted BBC's BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1971. For over five years she competed with the British eventing team, winning a silver medal in both individual and team disciplines in the 1975 European Three-Day Event Championships held in Germany. The following year she participated in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games as a member of the British team.
Marriage
On November 14, 1973 Princess Anne married Mark Phillips, a Lieutenant and later Captain in the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards at Westminster Abbey, London. The marriage was televised around the world with an estimated audience of 100 million. The couple has two children:
- Peter Phillips (born (15 November 1977)
- Zara Phillips (15 May 1981)
On their wedding day, the Queen offered Mark Phillips a peerage, but was refused. Thus when the couple had children, they were the first grandchildren of the sovereign to carry no title. It is said that the Queen offered to create her grandchildren princes under a letters patent, but this was refused by Princess Anne, who wished her children not to have any titles.
After their wedding, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, lived at Gatcombe Park, in Gloucestershire.
Kidnap attempt
Princess Anne was the target of a failed kidnap attempt on March 20, 1974. To this day, it remains the closest any individual has come to kidnapping a member of the Royal Family. The incident occurred as Princess Anne and Mark Philips were returning to Buckingham Palace from an engagement. Their chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce was blocked in the road on Pall Mall by another car. Ian Ball, a man later judged to be mentally unstable, jumped from the car and fired six shots, wounding several people on the street. Ball planned to ransom the Princess for a sum given in various sources as £2 million [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4139187.stm) or £3 million. [2] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/20/newsid_2524000/2524489.stm)
Secret government papers released under the '30-year rule' on January 1, 2005 reveal that when Ball revealed his plan to the Princess at gunpoint, she replied "(Not) bloody likely!", and considered hitting Ball. Anne's private detective jumped across to shield the princess, and then returned fire, injuring the kidnapper. A nearby police officer gave chase and arrested Ball, who was later imprisoned in a mental hospital, where he remains. The incident prompted higher security levels for the Royal Family.
Princess Royal
On June 13, 1987, the Queen bestowed the title of Princess Royal on Anne, the seventh creation of this ancient title. Anne was now to be styled Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. The title is only given to the eldest daughter of the sovereign, the last holder being King George V's daughter, Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood.
Divorce and remarriage
In August, 1989, the Princess Royal and Mark Philips announced their intention to separate. The marriage had been under strain for many years. The couple divorced in April, 1992. On December 12, 1992, Anne remarried, the first royal divorcee since Henry VIII of England to do so. She chose to remarry in the Church of Scotland since the Church of England forbade divorcees from remarrying in their churches, a stance that is now softening.
She married Timothy Laurence in Crathie Kirk near the Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire. They have no children together.
Charity work
The Princess Royal carries out the most engagements of any member of the Royal Family. After the Queen, she is considered the most valuable asset of the Royal Family. This current popularity is a contrast to her previous reputation when she earned the nickname, Princess Sourpuss.
The Princess Royal works extensively for the charity, Save the Children of which she has been president since 1970. Her work for the charity takes her all over the world, including many poverty stricken African nations. She is also the British representative in the International Olympic Committee as an administrator, where she has reportedly made considerable quiet efforts to fight the corruption in that organisation.
Since 2001, she has served as the chancellor of the University of London.
Honorary military appointments
Like other senior royals, The Princess Royal holds a number of honorary appointments in the British Armed Forces and those of several Commonwealth countries. She is Colonel-in-Chief of the following regiments and corps:
- The Blues and Royals
- The King's Royal Hussars
- The Royal Scots
- The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29/45 Foot)
- The Eighth Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's)
- The Royal Corps of Signals
- The Royal Logistic Corps
- The Canadian Forces Communications and Electronics Branch
- The Royal Army Veterinary Corps
- The Grey and Simcoe Foresters
- The Royal Regina Rifles
- The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
- The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
- The Royal Australian Corps of Signals
- The Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals
- The Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps
She is also:
- Rear Admiral and Chief Commandant for women, Royal Navy
- Honorary Air Commodore, RAF Lyneham.
Court case
In 2002, the Princess Royal became the first member of the royal family to face criminal charges since King Charles I was charged with treason. She pleaded guilty to the charge that her dog, Dotty, attacked two boys while she and her husband were taking her for a walk in Windsor Great Park. The Princess Royal was fined £500 and ordered to give more training for Dotty. In December 2003, one of the Queen's corgis had to be put down, after being savaged by another of the Princess Royal's dogs, Florence.
Titles and honours
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Titles from birth to present
- Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Edinburgh (until 1952)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne (1952–1973)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips (1973–1974)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips, GCVO (1974–1987)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, GCVO (1987–1990)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, GCVO, QSO (1990–1994)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, LG, GCVO, QSO (1994–2000)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, LG, LT, GCVO, QSO (2000 onwards)
Honours
- Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
- Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle
- Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Companion in the Queen's Service Order
| Preceded by: The Lady Louise Windsor | Line of Succession to the British throne | Succeeded by: Peter Mark Andrew Phillips |
nl:Anne Mountbatten Windsor pl:Anna (księżniczka angielska) pt:Ana, Princesa Real