Anne delivers but Charles is a worry
The Queen’s delight at becoming a grandmother after the birth of Anne’s son Peter in 1977 was tempered by her anxiety over Charles failing to find a suitable wife, writes
While the Queen was still a mother to teenage sons, she also became a grandmother. Anne had married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and gave birth to her son and the Queen’s first grandchild, Peter, in November 1977. Sister Zara would follow four years later.
The Princess Royal moved the royal family on dramatically when she decided against giving her children titles, in order to let them have a more “normal” life. In an interview for her 70th birthday in 2020, Anne said: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles.”
Her older brother Charles, however, was slower to settle and the Queen, Philip and Queen Mother were becoming anxious that he should find the right woman.
He had. He first met Camilla Shand at a polo match in Windsor in 1970, when she reportedly quipped: “My great-grandmother was the mistress of your greatgreat-grandfather. We have something in common.”
They dated, but three years later Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles. “If Elizabeth delighted in becoming a grandmother, her pleasure did not lessen her concern at Charles’ continuing bachelorhood on the brink of his 30th birthday,” writes biographer Matthew Dennison in The Queen. Many candidates were put forward and, in November 1978, the Queen hosted a 30th birthday party for Charles in Buckingham Palace. Among the invitees were Lady Sarah Spencer and her young sister, 17-year-old Diana. Not on the list was Camilla – who, the Queen was aware, was still very much in the picture, despite her being married.
I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having royal titles
PRINCESS ANNE