Princess Anne celebrates special 50-year anniversary today

Princess Anne celebrates 50-year anniversary today

PA
Dorothy Reddin

By Dorothy Reddin


Published: 14/11/2023

- 12:23

Updated: 14/11/2023

- 12:56

The Princess Royal is now married to Vice Admeral Timothy Laurence

Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips 50 years ago today in Westminster Abbey, in what was her first royal wedding.

The Princess Royal wore a wedding dress designed by Maureen Baker for the ready-to-wear label Susan Small.


The dress was described as "Tudor-style", featuring a high collar and medieval sleeves.

At the time, it was labelled "simplistic" and compared to many contemporary 1970s fashions.

Mark Phillips and Princess Anne

Mark Phillips and Princess Anne tied the knot in 1973

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Princess Anne was the first child of Queen Elizabeth II to tie the knot, so it was expected that there would be a lot of fanfare surrounding the wedding.

Special stamps were released featuring photographs of the couple to mark the occasion.

Photographs taken by Lord Lichfield showed the Princess Royal grinning beside Phillips and wearing a brand new engagement ring.

The wedding also coincided with then-Prince Charles's 25th birthday.

Princess Anne and Mark Phillips and Timothy Laurence

Princess Anne with her former and current husband

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Anne and Mark divorced in 1992, with the Princess Royal remarrying that same year to Timothy Laurence.

The royal's second wedding was much more low-key, taking placeat Crathie Kirk on the Balmoral Estate.

This was a much less grand affair than her 1973 wedding in Westminster Abbey.

For this ceremony, Princess Anne wore an unidentified white jacket over a "demure, cropped-to-the-knee dress".

WATCH NOW: Princess Anne is a hardworking royal

Anne and Timothy live in Gloucestershire on the Gatcombe Park estate.

The Princess Royal's two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, also live on the same estate with their respective families.

In a recent interview, Princess Anne admitted that she rarely gets to see her five grandchildren, despite living on the same estate.

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