What Life Was Like For Princess Anne Following Her Divorce

Correction 7/28/23: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the length of time between Princess Anne's divorce and remarriage as three months instead of eight months. This has been corrected.

Of all the royal family members in this current batch, Princess Anne certainly comes across as the most stoic. She is the embodiment of the stiff upper lip, dedicating herself to the monarchy with a ferocity that even King Charles III can't rival, all while keeping her personal details to a minimum. Being the second child and only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Anne has been in the public eye since the day she was born, working alongside her mother on many occasions and pursuing an impressive equestrian career as a young woman. These days, she's busy serving on just about every single committee and board you can think of, living alongside her husband Timothy Laurence, and sporting the same hairstyle she's rocked since the 1980s. And while Anne has a steely decorum that certainly keeps the public and the press at arm's length, she was once the center of some pretty intense drama.

Given that she seems so above the fray, Anne was one of Elizabeth's four children to get divorced in the 1990s. Alongside then-Prince Charles and Prince Andrew, Anne's first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips came to a grinding halt after years of tension between them. Amid their formal separation and divorce, Anne kept chugging along and was somewhat able to hide behind her work — and her older brother's shocking split — all while maintaining that military-esque exterior she's known for. But, life was certainly different for the Princess Royal following her divorce.

As Princess Anne's marriage to Mark Phillips was falling apart, she was exposed to some seriously harsh media coverage and critics. The most severe fallout came when personal letters of hers from Commander Timothy Laurence, who worked as one of Queen Elizabeth II's equerries, were stolen from her possession and handed over to the press. What started as a personal nightmare turned into a public scandal, and The Sun, one of the United Kingdom's biggest and most notorious tabloids, published that they had the contents of the letters in their possession.

In order to avoid a lawsuit, The Sun published a headline that read, "PALACE THIEF STEALS ANNE'S LETTERS...SUN TO THE RESCUE." By doing so, they spilled the beans that Anne was exchanging intimate letters with someone other than her estranged husband, but they avoided any legal ramifications (as they did not publish the actual letters themselves). Though the publication did give the correspondence to the authorities, their decision to go ahead with the coverage — albeit with a sideways angle — allowed publications like People and other local media outlets to cover Anne's devolving marriage in a way that the princess was never exposed to in the past.

As Princess Anne's major separation news started to die down a little, the public's attention was taken off of her once again when then-Prince Charles and Diana Spencer announced in 1992 that they, too, would be separating. It was about three years after Anne and Mark Phillips made it clear that their lives would not be carrying on together, and while the Princess Royal's news marked the first time since Princess Margaret got divorced from her husband, Charles' own separation reared the press and public's ugly head in a new way.

As royal watchers know, Diana was adored by the public, and was often seen as the shining star of the royal couple. Their marriage had been fraught with personal strife, extramarital affairs, and rumors of consistent unhappiness. By 1992, things were at a stalemate, and then-Prime Minister John Major announced that the two would be formally separating (per History).

Anne's life proceeded relatively normally, all things considered, while her brother's marriage fell to pieces. She had two young kids, her royal duties, and her equestrian career to focus on. Meanwhile, Charles and Diana's implosion dominated the headlines and provided the main source of royal drama until their official divorce in 1996.

Princess Anne's intimate connection with Timothy Laurence had become public knowledge due to the letters that made it into the headlines. However, she was finally able to pursue her connection with Timothy as her divorce became final.

Before his employment working alongside the royal family, Timothy enjoyed a fruitful naval career and even held a position on the queen's beloved HMY Britannia yacht. While it remains unclear exactly when the two first met, given that Timothy worked for Queen Elizabeth II as an equerry, it is largely assumed that his employment beginning in 1986 first allowed Timothy and Anne to cross paths (per Town & Country). By 1989, Anne had made Timothy a trustee for her charity, and an insider even commented on the decision in an interview with People at the time. "The appointment just shows Anne's affection for him," the source said, adding even more fuel to the separation fire.

By the time Anne and Mark got divorced, the princess was in a full-fledged relationship with Timothy, and the two stepped out in public for the first time just moments after the princess' divorce was finalized. Though it seemed rather scandalous — especially for a royal — Anne kept her cool.

You may have thought that Princess Anne would take a little bit of time to be single, enjoy her life without her ex-husband around, and revel in her newfound sense of freedom. Nope — she got married just eight months after her divorce was finalized, tying the knot with Timothy Laurence in 1992 (per the BBC).

As she had already been married before, Anne was not allowed to have a big royal wedding in Westminster Abbey this time, much like then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles had to downsize their civil ceremony due to the royal family's connection to the Church of England and its overwhelming disapproval of divorce. So, Anne and Timothy instead got married at Crathie Church in Scotland, just a short distance from Balmoral Castle. The royal family members were in attendance, and Prince Philip walked his daughter down the aisle for the second time. Zara Tindall, who was just 11 at the time, served as her mother's bridesmaid.

Taking the fuss out of the day, Anne wore a classic white dress suit and jacket, and Timothy wore his Navy uniform. A small group of people gathered outside the church to wish the royal well, and the newlyweds were subsequently joined by the royals for a reception back at Balmoral. Anne and Timothy have been happily married ever since.

Despite their strenuous relationship, separation, and eventual divorce — not to mention his love child and following failed marriages — Princess Anne and Mark Phillips are actually quite cordial with one another. Maintaining decorum while their children were young, Anne and Mark co-parented Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, and have been spotted enjoying each other's company on a number of occasions (per Town & Country).

Like her mother, Zara pursued an equestrian career and reached varying levels of success, even going as far as representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games. When the Games were hosted in London in 2012, Zara was the pride of her home country, taking home the silver medal as a member of the Great Britain equestrian team. Not only was the public proud of the royal, but Anne and Mark also got together for a number of Zara's competitions throughout her career, making it known that they were a united team supporting her ambitions.

Even still, Anne and Mark have joined family events alongside Anne's second husband, Timothy Laurence, clearly proving that their past drama is just that — in the past. The three were photographed chatting with one another at the Festival of British Eventing held at Gatcombe Park back in 2007, and again in 2011 during the Gatcombe Park Horse Trials. Honestly, we love to see it.