The Princess Royal is often accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, on her royal engagements, with the pair visiting various organizations in Kent on Tuesday.
The couple celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last December, but did you know that Sir Tim once worked for Anne’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II?
The princess royal is believed to have met Sir Tim on the Royal Yacht Britannia when he was a commander in the Royal Navy. He also served as an equerry to the late Queen between 1986 and 1989.
They built a close friendship and exchanged “personal letters” which were stolen in 1989, Buckingham Palace confirmed – although the details of their contents have never been revealed.
Anne’s marriage to her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, had broken down and the palace announced the couple’s separation in 1989, with their divorce finalised three years later.
The Princess married Sir Tim in an intimate wedding ceremony at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral Castle in Scotland on 12 December 1992.
Unlike the Church of England at the time, the Church of Scotland considered marriage to be an ordinance of religion rather than a sacrament and permitted the remarriage of divorced persons under certain circumstances.
Anne chose a demure bridal outfit for the ceremony, with a white jacket over a knee-length dress and a spray of white flowers in her hair.
Following the service, the couple and their guests enjoyed a private reception at Craigowan Lodge. Sir Tim did not receive a peerage from the Queen but the monarch and her husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh, attended the wedding along with Anne’s children, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips.
While Anne and her husband are very reserved in public, they shared a sweet moment together at King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in May.
Anne and Sir Tim reside on the royal’s Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, although the princess regularly travels around the UK and abroad to carry out public duties.
The Princess Royal is grandmother to five grandchildren: Peter shares two daughters with his former wife Autumn – Savannah, 12, and Isla,11, while Zara and her husband Mike are parents to Mia, nine, Lena, five, and Lucas, two.
