CAMILLA VS PRINCESS ANNE: THE TRUTH AT LAST
BEHIND HER NONONSENSE IMAGE, PRINCESS ANNE HAS A HIDDEN PAST
She’s one of the most popular and hardestworking members of the royal family, but until now little has been known about Princess Anne’s private life.
The latest season of the hit series The Crown has revealed shocking revelations about the princess, including that as a young woman she had a relationship with her future sister-in-law Camilla’s now ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. And questions are now being asked about what else has been concealed about Anne.
Indeed, royal expert Phil Dampier suggests there’s more to the royal’s first love affair than was originally thought.
“I think Anne did love him and still does, but she was too young and he was not going to be faithful,” the UK correspondent claims. “Andrew was widely said to be Anne’s first love and responsible for her losing her virginity. At the time he was an extremely attractive and confident man who was very experienced sexually and had a lot of girlfriends.”
Royal writer Penny Junor’s 2017 biography on Camilla lifted the lid on her relationship with Andrew. In it, Penny revealed that Andrew had been continuously unfaithful to Camilla since they first began their on-off relationship in 1966, writing that while “Andrew was hugely fond of her and she was nominally his girlfriend … he couldn’t resist other women”.
One of Andrew’s most public relationships, which occurred while he was on a break from Camilla, was with Anne. But while their feelings – at least on Anne’s part – were reportedly strong, there was no question they would be able to marry, due to his religion.
“Andrew loved Anne’s feisty nature and of course she was a very attractive women when she was younger,” explains Dampier.
“Anne fell for him and the relationship was very passionate, but he was a Catholic and so not suitable as a potential husband. Also, he was never going to be faithful and so the affair fizzled out.”
Surprisingly, Anne and Camilla’s relationship involvement – in what has been described as a love square between them, Andrew and Prince Charles – hasn’t affected their current relationship.
“Anne and Camilla don’t see that much of each other but when they do they are both cordial to each other. They are both very pragmatic and after all these years I don’t think they are jealous of each other, but obviously they go back a long way,” says Phil.
Both women are on good terms with Andrew too.
“You still see Anne and Andrew together every year at Royal Ascot as he escorts her to the parade ground to look at the runners and riders. It’s almost as if nothing has changed in 45 years,” he adds.
Anne was herself subject to rumours of extramarital affairs in the 1980s when married to Mark Phillips. She was linked to her personal bodyguard, Sergeant Peter Cross of the Royal Protection Squad – who, after being relieved of his duties, later sold his story to a UK newspaper. There were even rumours that Peter was actually
Anne and Mark’s daughter Zara’s biological father, after he made claims about speaking to the princess just hours after she gave birth.
Anne’s relationship with Timothy Laurence was revealed after letters between them were stolen. She and Mark then announced their separation, and eight months after their divorce, Anne married Timothy in December 1992.
Months later, though, came surprise claims that have been rarely mentioned since: that Anne was pregnant with her third child.
In March 1993, UK newspapers speculated that the princess and Timothy were expecting a baby, with The People newspaper devoting five pages to the claims.
While Anne and Timothy never had this much-speculated baby, Buckingham Palace’s refusal to confirm or deny the pregnancy at the time only fanned the rumour mill. The formal response was that such matters were private and, according to a New York Times report, “It is usually left to the individual members of the royal family to decide whether to divulge them.”