Anne, Princess Royal and Commander Timothy Laurence 1992


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I believe the hat PA wore was brown and it was not the first time she had wore it either. I think PA looked lovely.
 
OK it was a second marriage but it did not have to look as cheap and "we're not bohtering to do anything fancy", as it did. Just because it is a second marriage surely does not mean that you barely make an effort ot have a nice dress and service and so on...You love your second partner as much, if not more than the first one, because you now are mature and realise things you didnt know as someone young.. so why not make it special as well as a first wedding?

How do we know this was not what felt "special" to Anne? She's not very "grande" in general. Maybe this was exactly what she and he wanted. We will likely not know because she and he do not share.
 
A full blown Westminster Abbey wedding probably won't have been her choice either. However, because she was the Queen's only daughter and the first to get married that is what she had. The 2nd wedding is probably closer to what she would have chosen if she had a choice.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
It was meant to be a quick wedding. Helped calm down the scandal.
 
It was meant to be a quick wedding. Helped calm down the scandal.
You are so correct. At the time we were all wondering why she just didn't have a completely private wedding at a chapel in one of the royal homes without any media told or present until much later. Now that would have been Anne's thing. She could have then told all to "bugger off". Love her. But, she is the daughter of a queen and I am sure this was the LEAST she was able to get away with. I loved everything about it. It was her and she didn't care about all the pomp and glitter or anything showy. Plus, I bet money that deep down it was Prince Philip's favorite event. She has mellowed quite a bit over the years but we all remember the little devil back then and behind closed doors a true handful with a strong mind and temper.
 
Last edited:
I'm just tickled at how much time she and Tim are spending together on official duties, these days. And he's been very smiley (by Tim standards) IMO. :flowers:
 
It was meant to be a quick wedding. Helped calm down the scandal.

What scandal? There was no scandal. There was scandal at the tiem about Fergie and Diana's marriages, and In fact Iv'e read that the queen wanted Anne to have her second marriage as a bigger thing, so as to distract attention from the 2 other princesses but A refused.
 
What scandal? There was no scandal. There was scandal at the tiem about Fergie and Diana's marriages, and In fact Iv'e read that the queen wanted Anne to have her second marriage as a bigger thing, so as to distract attention from the 2 other princesses but A refused.

Actually there was a scandal. Intimate letters between Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence were discovered (i.e. stolen), which eventually led to her divorce from Captain Mark Phillips.
 
Mark knocking up some one also helped down the divorce road.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
Mark knocking up some one also helped down the divorce road.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

Ah yeah, Heather Tonkin. And that was already in the early 1980s.
 
But not confirmed until much later and it wasn't an 'affair' as such but more a 'one-night stand'. She had a reputation for sleeping with a number of men on the equestrian circle but managed to get pregnant by Mark, who has never seen her since the couple of days they spent together nor has he seen the resultant child although he paid maintenance when he was confirmed, using DNA, as the father. Neither Peter nor Zara have ever meet her either.

He shouldn't have slept with a woman when he was married but it wasn't a full-blown affair, unlike Anne's with Tim and the rumoured other lovers she had in the 70s and 80s. Yes there were questions asked about Zara's paternity suggesting Anne wasn't necessarily faithful to Mark that early in her marriage -
 
But not confirmed until much later and it wasn't an 'affair' as such but more a 'one-night stand'. She had a reputation for sleeping with a number of men on the equestrian circle but managed to get pregnant by Mark, who has never seen her since the couple of days they spent together nor has he seen the resultant child although he paid maintenance when he was confirmed, using DNA, as the father. Neither Peter nor Zara have ever meet her either.

He shouldn't have slept with a woman when he was married but it wasn't a full-blown affair, unlike Anne's with Tim and the rumoured other lovers she had in the 70s and 80s. Yes there were questions asked about Zara's paternity suggesting Anne wasn't necessarily faithful to Mark that early in her marriage -

Well well, look at that. Then the stolen letters might as well have been the straw that broke the camel's back?
 
Actually there was a scandal. Intimate letters between Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence were discovered (i.e. stolen), which eventually led to her divorce from Captain Mark Phillips.

that wasn't a scandal. Noone took any notice of Anne, she and Mark were on cool terms for years and I imagine were seeing other people. Anne was in love at the time with Tim Laurence.. and she and M separated and then divorced. But it was harldly a scandal because they didn't go yapping ot the press like Charles and Diana both did. They got a quiet divorce. and no one thought anything of it because Anne was a back number..
She married Tim Laurence quietly and it looked like a cheap wedding, but it was apparelnty what she wanted.
 
Well well, look at that. Then the stolen letters might as well have been the straw that broke the camel's back?

nonsense... there were no questions about Zara's paternity.
Anne and Mark fell out of love and their marriage became an arrangement. When he got that girl pregnant and Anne's affair with Laurence became public it was obviously time ot end it.
 
that wasn't a scandal. Noone took any notice of Anne, she and Mark were on cool terms for years and I imagine were seeing other people. Anne was in love at the time with Tim Laurence.. and she and M separated and then divorced. But it was harldly a scandal because they didn't go yapping ot the press like Charles and Diana both did. They got a quiet divorce. and no one thought anything of it because Anne was a back number..
She married Tim Laurence quietly and it looked like a cheap wedding, but it was apparelnty what she wanted.

Then it depends on what one considers a 'scandal'. It doesn't always have to be on the scale of what Charles and Diana did. Major and minor, that stuff.
Was it known that Anne was in love with Timothy Laurence before the letters were stolen?
That Anne and Cpt. Mark Phillips were on cool terms was obvious, they already separated in 1989.
 
nonsense... there were no questions about Zara's paternity.
Anne and Mark fell out of love and their marriage became an arrangement. When he got that girl pregnant and Anne's affair with Laurence became public it was obviously time ot end it.

Then you should actually reply to Iluvbertie, I didn't claim anything of it and you appear to be in strong disagreement about it all.
(But I get that you were, as I take it, attempting to provide the 'correct' information).

But this isn't the right thread to discuss Princess Anne's divorce, it's about her re-wedding.
 
OK her second wedding was a very dull affair, with apparently plastic glasses at the reception. It looked dull, it got about 10 seconds on the news..
 
:previous: Thus perfectly corresponding with Princess Anne's no-nonsense attitude. Doing what needs to be done without any hoopla.
 
Yes, Anne is her father's daughter. Do your job and without fanfare when possible and get on with your life. This woman is extremely hard working [always has been] and doesn't care if media taking pictures or not. That is not her prime concern. As far a scandal, yes in those days it was written up quite a bit. Today's society, heavens no. I believe it has all turned out perfectly for her. Anne seems to have mellowed in this marriage. Her children and grandchildren adore her. She smiles more now than ever. Her life is good. Good for her
 
Well well, look at that. Then the stolen letters might as well have been the straw that broke the camel's back?

The final straws were the stolen letters AND confirmation that Mark was the father of the girl in NZ.

As this was all coming out around the same time as the breakdown of Andrew and Charles' marriages it just added to the bad feelings at the time.
 
nonsense... there were no questions about Zara's paternity.
Anne and Mark fell out of love and their marriage became an arrangement. When he got that girl pregnant and Anne's affair with Laurence became public it was obviously time ot end it.

There were questions about Zara's paternity - suggestions are that her father was one of Anne's protection officers. She was quite close to the one named Cross at one point about the time Zara was conceived.

There were already reports in the late 1970s that Anne and Mark were living separate lives so when it was announced that there were questions asked.

By 1985 the tabloids were openly raising the questions about Zara's paternity at the same time as they were speculating on the state of the Wales marriage. Most people didn't take the latter seriously but we now know that those reports were on the mark.
 
Last edited:
:previous: Thus perfectly corresponding with Princess Anne's no-nonsense attitude. Doing what needs to be done without any hoopla.

I imagine if Anne had it her way there would have been no press present, and if needs be a notice in the Times after the event.

It was a time of a lot of unsettlement within the younger generation of royal marriages and I expect Anne wanted to get on with it with as little attention as possible.

Of course, as daughter of the Queen the marriage couldn't go unmarked.
 
I imagine if Anne had it her way there would have been no press present, and if needs be a notice in the Times after the event.

It was a time of a lot of unsettlement within the younger generation of royal marriages and I expect Anne wanted to get on with it with as little attention as possible.

Of course, as daughter of the Queen the marriage couldn't go unmarked.
Apparently the queen asked her to have a bigger wedding to distract from the bad press of Diana and sarahs' marital break ups and Anne didn't want ot. frankly I doubt if she would have gotten much more meida attention even if she had gone for a bigger wedding. Nobody cared about her, or her divorce or her re marriage. Anyway I thought we were supposed to be discussing her wedding, as a wedding, not her marriage problems ... And it was such a non event there's nothing to say about it. She looked dull, it was cheap, and from what I've heard the second marriage is no more of a success than her first....
 
...and from what I've heard the second marriage is no more of a success than her first....

I had "heard" that too, and until about the the time that Mia was born, I might have thought it possible as they spent little public time together.

But in the last several years, they appear together, both officially and unofficially a lot more. He smiles in her presence more and she smiles sometimes (more than I remember in a long time).

I no longer believe these "hearing"s. JMO
 
I think its odd that there should be rumours, esp when Anne is not really talked of much.. unless there was something behind them. Possibly she was rather pushed into a second marriage by the fact of her affair with him coming out. But again as a wedding, it was pretty awful. I know that it is not quite the same but Charles and Camilla were a second marriage, and Camilla dressed nicely and looked very good for her..
 
If it had been forced due to the affair, which considering her and mark had officially been separated for a few years is a push at best, I doubt the marriage would have lasted over twenty years. Despite any rumours, it is clear they make a good team in public events, and happy at family outings like horse shows. He clearly is close with kids and dotes on the granddaughters.


I think it simply Anne is a no none sense person. I have a feeling her big fancy first wedding was not at all her liking. She would have preferred something private. Having yo marry in Scotland as it he Church of England didn't allow divorcees back then, gave her the perfect reason. Yes her dress wasn't great but Anne has questionable style stylish the best of times. Unlike Camilla who has an interest in clothes and jewelry, Anne doesn't. The small very simple private wedding was likely just what she wanted.
 
I

I think it simply Anne is a no none sense person. I have a feeling her big fancy first wedding was not at all her liking. She would have preferred something private. Having yo marry in Scotland as it he Church of England didn't allow divorcees back then, gave her the perfect reason. Yes her dress wasn't great but Anne has questionable style stylish the best of times. Unlike Camilla who has an interest in clothes and jewelry, Anne doesn't. The small very simple private wedding was likely just what she wanted.

I think its very possible that the marriage woudl last because Anne and the RF hardly coudl wish for her to have another divorce. I dont say they are unhappy, i dont know. But I woudlnt be surprised if it isn't exactly Loves Young Dream. I think that Anne is domineering and a man may not like that, I suspect Mark put up with it for a while and just went off and led his own life.. and perhaps she gets bored when she finds she CAN easily dominate her husband...
I wonder if she would have married Tim L if her relationship wit him had not been outed. At the time while her "scandal" was pretty minor, thte RF may have been concerned that this was ANOTHER affair that had hit the headlines, another divorce etc. and felt that it was best that she got married again...
As for her marriage, its not strictly true that one could not remarry in Church in the C of E... it was up to the individual clergyman. But of course if it was a royal who had found a clergyman to marry her in her second marriage, people woudl say it was because of her position. So it was probalby best to go for a Scottish wedding.
I honestly woudl not say that Camilla was that interested in clothes, but Im sure for her wedding she would have wanted to make an effort to look nice and dress well.. and while i wish she hadnt chosen grey, I think she DID look smart and nicely dressed.
Anne CAN look well when she makes the effort, why not make it for her husband?
 
Perhaps Tim thought Anne did look nice on her wedding day, maybe you should write him a letter and ask seeing as her appearance is such an issue for you.
 
Did Sarah, Duchess of York attend Princess Anne and Timothy's wedding?
 
Back
Top Bottom