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A Century of Royal Weddings, Anne

Posted by: Linda Carbonell on April 24, 2011.

04-24-2011 by L. S. Carbonell

Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise was born August 15, 1950 at Clarence House, her parent’s residence around the corner from Buckingham Palace. Her very chauvinistic greatg-grandfather, George V, had only granted royal titles and the address Royal Highness to the children and male grandchildren of the Prince of Wales – at that time his eldest son Edward. Edward abdicated, the second son became George VI, and his eldest daughter, Anne’s mother, become heir to the throne. After the birth of Prince Charles, George VI set things right and made all of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip’s children Royal Princes and Princess.

While being initially educated at the palace by governess Catherine Peebles, the decision was made to re-form the Girl Guides troop that had been started for her mother and aunt, so that Anne could socialize with children her own age. The 1^st Buckingham Palace Company, and the Holy Trinity Brompton Brownie pack only exist when there is a young girl at the palace, but Princess Margaret remained a patron of the Girl Guides for decades.

Charles and Anne were the first royal children to be sent to a real school, with Anne leaving for boarding school, Benenden School in southern England, when she was 13. When the Queen attended her first parents’ day at Anne’s school, she had to explain to the headmistress that Her Majesty had no idea what the woman was talking about with O levels and A levels because she, herself, had never been to school. O levels have nothing to do with Owls, but at the time referred to the equivalent of an American high school diploma, while an A level was sort of like our advance placement courses.

In one of those pieces of circular coincidence that happen in small social groups, Anne’s first boyfriend was Andrew Parker Bowles, who later married Camilla, who later married Prince Charles.

Anne was her father’s favorite child. Though not prone to the frivolousness of her aunt Margaret, she enjoyed the same kind of extended personal freedom that Margaret had, and became known for two things – her exceptional skill as a horsewoman and her mouth. In her younger days, Anne made no secret of her feelings about the presence of the press at the fringes of her life, sometimes quite colorfully. She studied at the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna. In 1971, Princess Anne was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Until 1976, she was a member of the British eventing team, taking a silver medal in individual and team events in the 1975 European Eventing Championship. She was a member of the 1976 U.K. Equestrian Team at the Montreal Olympics. (For the benefit of those who don’t know one end of a horse from another – “equestrian” competitions involve manipulating horses through complicated courses of turns and jumps, as well as leading them through sets of structured movements – all without looking like you’re actually directing the horse, while dressed in a funny bowl-shaped hat and tie – the rider, not the horse.) Princess Anne was selected President of the Federation Equestre Internationale from 1986 to 1994.

The engagement portrait

In was in the course of her horsing around that Princess Anne met Lieutenant Mark Phillips of the Queen’s 1^st Dragoon Guards, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and son of a Major. Phillips was two years older than Anne and a equestrian. He won a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics in the three-day event.

Had she had her druthers, Anne would have married in one of the castle chapels with only their families in attendance. That was not to be, but she did manage to pull of the simplest royal wedding last century, even if it was broadcast live to a worldwide audience of 300 million.

Of all the gowns worn by the Royals last century, Anne’s is my favorite, not because it was spectacular, but because it was so transformational. We had become accustomed to the horsewoman, a girl frequently compared to her horses. That morning, she was beautiful.

On the morning of November 14, 1973, Anne and her father arrived at Westminster Abbey in a horse-drawn glass carriage. She had only two attendants, her youngest brother Prince Edward and her cousin Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, both 9 years old. Anne’s gown, by Maureen Baker for Susan Small, was a heavy silk, with a high cowl collar and long pointed Tudor sleeves. The pin-tucked bodice fit tightly, highlighting her Windsor figure – a tiny waist and impressive chest. The gown flowed down the aisle, with the cathedral-length veil wafting behind her. Her hair was done Gibson-girl style – swept up, slightly parted in the center, creating a nest for the George II fringe tiara her mother had worn for her wedding. Mark wore his scarlet uniform.

Following the wedding, the family and guests returned to Buckingham Palace for a luncheon and the couple spent the night at White House Lodge in Richmond Park, then left on an 18-day cruise aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. In 1976, the Queen purchased Gatcombe Park, an estate and farm in the Heart of England for the couple.

Prior to the wedding, the Queen had offered Phillips an Earldom, just as she had for Princess Margaret’s husband. Phillips turned it down. Without the Earldom, Anne and Mark’s children have no titles and are simply Mr. Peter Phillips (born 1977) and Miss Zara Phillips (born 1981).

On March 20, 1974, Princess Anne was the victim of an intended kidnapping. While returning from a charity event, their car was stopped by a Ford Escort. The Escort’s driver, Ian Ball, jumped out and started shooting. After wounding the Princess’ body guard, the chauffeur and a journalist, Ball approached the car, pointed his gun inside and told Anne he intended to kidnap her and hold her for ransom. Her response was “Not bloody likely!” and she backed out of the opposite side of the car. A passing pedestrian helped Anne to safety, a constable tried to take down Ball and was shot and finally a police detective arrived who gave chase and captured Ball. All the wounded recovered and were honored by the Queen. The incident inspired Tom Clancey’s Patriot Games and Antonia Fraser’s Your Royal Hostage.

By all accounts, the only thing the couple had in common was horses and their children. They drifted apart quickly. The separated in 1989, amid rumors of affairs on both their parts. The divorced in 1992.

Princess Anne is the most active of the Royals, averaging about 700 royal duties a year. The royal duties include being the patrons or sponsors of charity groups of all sizes (Charles’ The Prince’s Trust is probably the largest), hosting parties and balls for the charities or showing up at theatrical performances benefitting the charities, formal inspections of various military units in which the royals hold honorary ranks, opening everything from new roads to new hospitals, a lot of pomp-and-circumstance stuff mixed with raising interest in the charities and real participation in their causes. According to some sources, the family gathers a couple of times a year to go through requests for royal patronage, assign charities and set calendars for the coming months. It’s these sessions that in part earned the Royals the nickname “The Firm.”

Princess Anne is also the royal with the police record. In 2001, she was fined 400 pounds for driving 93 miles and hour and in 2002 fined 500 pounds because her dog attacked to boys in Windsor Great Park.

Princess Anne at 60 by John Swannell

On December 29, 2010, Princess Anne became a grandmother, and the Queen a great-grandmother, when Peter and Autumn Phillips welcomed a little girl, Savannah.

Since we’re doing the royal weddings in order, we’ll return to Anne on Thursday.