The Princess Royal turns 70 today and a special documentary was sent out last month to mark the occasion. The ITV documentary ‘Anne: The Princess Royal at 70’ featured Anne’s most silent husband Tim in an unusual interview. Tim even made a cheeky comment about Anne’s taste in men, noting an important similarity between him and her ex-husband Mark.
He pointed out that they were both military officers – Mark was in the Army and Tim the Navy – adding that he found it ‘amusing’.
Tim said: ‘It’s very amusing that she first married an army officer and then a naval officer.
“That there must be something about the army that attracts them.”
However, the agreements do not stop there.
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Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence had some remarks about himself and Mark Phillips (Image: GETTY)
Anne married Mark Phillips in 1973 (Image: GETTY)
Former Daily Express reporter Ashley Walton noted in Channel 4’s 2002 documentary ‘The Real Princess Anne’ how much the two men were alike.
He said: ‘They are both quiet men. They are similar species – long, neat and quiet.
“You can not imagine that they are one of the two very exciting.”
Royal Reporter James Whittaker suggested that no man could “join” Anne because of her strong personality.
Anne married Tim in 1992 (Image: GETTY)
He said: ‘She is a strong lady; I can not think of anyone who knew Anne successfully with Anne and Mark and Tim are certainly two who cannot. ‘
Tim and Anne met when he was Equerry for their mother, the Queen.
The princess was still married to Mark at the time and the couple went on a secret love affair, during which many trips to his home in Worcestershire took place.
The secret finally came out in 1989 when love letters were stolen from Anne’s suitcase at Buckingham Palace and sent to The Sun.
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Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence not long after their wedding (Image: GETTY)
The Princess Royal and her husband Timothy Laurence in 2018 (Image: GETTY)
While the newspaper handed over the letters to the Metropolitan Police, Buckingham Palace acknowledged that Tim’s letters were and the state Anne’s marriage was exposed.
They divorced quickly and then divorced in 1992.
Eventually, Scotland Yard never managed to find out who stole Anne’s letters and issued her relationship.
After a four-month investigation in which almost everyone in the Palace was interviewed and around 500 fingerprints were taken, the police could not definitively say who stole the letters.
Just a few weeks after the divorce was finalized, Anne went to her first event with Tim, the Caledonian ball.
They danced happily together and photos were splashed across the newspapers.
Royal photographer Jayne Fincher recalled: “It was the first time I looked really happy and happy for years and years.
“And I just thought, ‘Good for her,’ and I was really happy for her.”
Princess Anne talks to her ex-husband Mark Phillips (Image: GETTY)
Later that year, Anne married Tim in a small ceremony in Scotland, something that was considered more of her style than the extravagant fairytale wedding in 1973.
Mark also remarried – to Sandy Pflueger in 1997, with whom she had a daughter – but unfortunately they divorced in 2012 and announced their proposed divorce.
Meanwhile, Anne and Tim have proven to be a powerful couple, working well together for the past 27 years.
Mark Phillips is believed to be on good terms with Anne (Image: GETTY)
Anne’s son Peter Phillips said in a recent documentary about his mother: ‘They both have an understanding of what being part of the wider family means and what is obligatory.
“And for the last 25 years, plus they’ve been together now, he’s been a very strong supporter of them.”
Tim added: “We are both map and map people, we want to know where we are and see where we are going.”
