- Princess Anne, the sole daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, has had two high-profile marriages, first to Mark Phillips, and later to Timothy Laurence, which was the subject of much tabloid scrutiny.
- Beyond her marriages, Anne also had notable relationships with figures such as Olympian Richard Meade and royal family acquaintance Andrew Parker Bowles.
- Anne's love life has been explored in The Crown, including in seasons 3 and 4.
Princess Anne—the second child and sole daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip—has been many things during her life in the public eye–a decorated equestrian who competed at the Olympics, a dedicated philanthropist, an overseas envoy for the British royal family–but her romantic life has drawn public attention since she was a young member of the court. And, her relationship history is even more complex than how it's been portrayed on The Crown.
She's been married twice—first to Mark Phillips and later to Timothy Laurence, who she's still with today—and she also had notable flings with people like Olympic gold medalist Richard Meade and Andrew Parker Bowles. Her romance with Bowles was covered in The Crown's third season, with Anne played by Erin Doherty.
Given the intense tabloid scrutiny that follows every royal family member, Anne, now 70, has experienced decades of media attention, particularly focused on the way her relationship with Laurence began. To help get you up to speed on the romantic history of this royal figure, we've gone deep into the eventful love life of Princess Anne.
Anne's reported dalliance with equestrian Richard Meade made headlines in the '70s.
In the early '70s, Anne was "linked romantically" to an accomplished English equestrian, the gold medal winner Richard Meade. It's unclear how long the two were together or how serious the relationship was. Reports suggest it was just a short stint. Anne and Meade competed on the 1976 Olympics team together (she was the first royal to do so), and her future husband Mark Phillips was actually a teammate of theirs.
Speculation also followed her attending 1970 Ascot Week with Andrew Parker Bowles.
And then there's the alleged relationship between Anne and longtime royal family acquaintance Andrew Parker Bowles, which was covered by Vanity Fair. It was never officially confirmed, but it's been widely speculated by people who cover the family. The two attended the Royal Ascot horse race together in 1970, which helped fuel rumors.
A fictionalized version of their possible romance is a plot point in the third season of The Crown, though it's obviously embellished. Bowles ultimately married Camilla Shand (later Parker Bowles) in 1973. Of course, she eventually divorced Shand and is with Prince Charles today.
"It's unclear when their romance wound down, but Anne had no shortage of young men interested in her, among them Mark Phillips, whom she first met in 1968," Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, told Elle.
As noted by Vanity Fair, part of the issue with their relationship progressing was that Bowles was a Catholic, and he would have had to convert and be baptized in order to pursue a more legitimate relationship with Anne.
Princess Anne married British military officer Mark Phillips in 1973.
Princess Anne's initial marriage was to former military officer and fellow accomplished equestrian Mark Phillips. They wed on November, 14 1973. According to the Chicago Tribune, they initially met in 1968 at a "party for horse lovers."
Anne and Phillips separated in 1989, after nearly 20 years together, and divorced in 1992. Reportedly things were acrimonious towards the end, with the two putting physical and emotional distance between each other.
Prior to their official split, the pair was romantically linked to other people. Anne was connected with Brideshead Revisited actor Anthony Andrews, according to the Chicago Tribune, and to her future husband Timothy Laurence.
Anne and Phillips had two children—Zara and Peter.
Princess Anne and Mark Phillips have two children together—Zara Tindall, 39, and Peter Phillips, 42. Zara competed in the Olympics as an equestrian in 2012, while her husband Mike won the World Cup in rugby in 2003.
Zara has two children, Mia, 6, and Lena, 2. According to People, Zara has long been close with Prince William.
Peter, the oldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth, has two children of his own, Savannah, 9, and Isla, 8. He serves as managing director for SEL UK, a sports and entertainment agency. Peter married Autumn Kelly in 2008, but the pair announced plans to split up in February.
Neither of Anne's children have official royal titles, a decision that she and Mark made.
Anne married equerry officer Timothy Laurence in 1992.
Soon after she finalized her divorce from Phillips, Anne and Timothy Laurence were married on December 12, 1992.
Unlike some royal weddings which are grand, palatial affairs, Princess Anne's second wedding was far more intimate, attended by just 30 people. Those on hand included the Queen, Prince Charles, and Prince Andrew, among others. Still, as with most royal nuptials, it was a worldwide spectacle, with a reported 500 million people watching.
The attention around their wedding—and the decision to have a small ceremony—was perhaps prompted by the unconventional and widely scrutinized nature of how their relationship reportedly began. Per a 1989 People story, Anne and Laurence grew close when he became an officer in Queen Elizabeth's equerry, which is an honorable role in which a decorated military member serves as an attendant of a royal.
Four "intimate" letters he wrote to her were stolen and became British tabloid fodder. Buckingham Palace eventually confirmed their existence, the Chicago Tribune reported. The pilfered writing suggested that their close friendship had developed into something deeper. This included Anne visiting Laurence's home when he was suffering from shingles.
"Tim never stopped thinking about Princess Anne from soon after their first meeting…. Anne has treated him as her closest confidant for some considerable time," a source told People. "Obviously, Tim and the princess were physically attracted to each other, but their friendship goes deeper than that. Tim has filled a loneliness in her life and given her a shoulder to cry on when she needed someone to tell her troubles to."
But a relationship that began as the subject of tabloid fodder and media controversy has grown into one of the most enduring in the British royal family. Anne and Laurence have the second-longest marriage of all the living royals.
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Grant Rindner is a culture and music journalist in New York. He has written for Billboard, Complex, and i-D, among other outlets.
