THE PRINCESS ROYAL AND COMMANDER TIMOTHY LAURENCE
It’s their 30th wedding anniversary this year, but the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence probably won’t be having a lavish celebration. The couple prefer to keep their relationship out of the spotlight and theirs remains the most low key of royal romances.
For the most part, they live quietly in the Gloucestershire countryside, from where the Princess carries out her royal duties and her husband is chairman of English Heritage Trust.
But in a documentary to mark Anne’s 70th birthday in 2020, Sir Tim gave a rare insight into their marriage. “We are both map and chart people – we like to know where we are and see where we are going,” he said.
A steady presence at his wife’s side, the 66-year-old shares her love of rugby union – they were spotted in Edinburgh recently watching England play Scotland in the Six Nations – but her passion for riding passes him by. “Sadly, I’ve never been bitten by the horse bug,” he said in the documentary.
TENDER MOMENTS
Anne and Sir Timothy got to know each other when he was an equerry on board Royal Yacht Britannia. They grew close when he fell ill with shingles, prompting the Princess to make regular visits to his home to cheer him up. They married in December 1992, months after Anne’s divorce from Captain Mark Phillips, tying the knot in Crathie Kirk in Scotland, close to the Balmoral estate. Sir Timothy wore his naval uniform while his bride donned a simple white suit, carried a bouquet of lucky heather and wore white blossoms in her hair.
As for what brought them together, Sir Timothy said: “It’s quite amusing that she married first an army officer and then a naval officer. There must be something about the military that attracts her.”
H‘We are both map and chart people — we like to know where we are’