Princess Anne married Olympic equestrian Captain Mark Phillips on November 14, 1973, in a televised ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The couple had two children, Peter and Zara. Following years of strain and a separation in August 1989, their marriage ended in divorce on April 23, 1992. Later that same year, she married Commander (now Vice Admiral) Timothy Laurence in Scotland.
Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, both accomplished equestrians, initially bonded over their shared passion for horses. Their 1973 wedding was a global media event watched by an estimated 500 million people. However, public and media scrutiny, coupled with the immense pressures of royal life, gradually caused the couple to drift apart. In August 1989, Buckingham Palace announced they had mutually agreed to separate. Three years later, on April 23, 1992, their divorce was finalised.
Later that same year, on December 12, 1992, Princess Anne remarried. Because the Church of England did not permit divorced individuals to remarry in its churches at the time, she and Royal Navy Commander Timothy Laurence chose to hold their ceremony in Scotland under the jurisdiction of the Church of Scotland. The couple had met while Laurence served as an equerry to Queen Elizabeth II from 1986 to 1989. Princess Anne’s marriage to Timothy Laurence has remained a successful, supportive, and private union.
Video Source
