When Princess Anne was 24 years old, a gunman stopped her car in central London and demanded she get out, intending to kidnap her for ransom. Her reported response was a blunt refusal: “Not bloody likely. ” The attempted abduction quickly became one of the most legendary moments in modern royal history, but it is only one chapter in a life filled with scandals, affairs, and a famously sharp tongue. Born on August 15, 1950, at Clarence House in London, Anne was the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
At birth, she was third in line to the throne, behind her mother and older brother, Charles. While she grew up in the trappings of royalty, she was never a typical princess. She preferred physical pursuits and horse competitions over more conventional interests. Her father once joked that if something “doesn’t fart or eat hay, she is not interested.
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By her mid-teens, Anne was competing at a national level. At 21, she won individual gold at the European Eventing Championships. Five years later, in 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic Games. Anne’s early romantic life became entangled with that of her brother.
In 1970, she began dating Andrew Parker Bowles, who had recently broken up with his on-and-off girlfriend, Camilla Shand—the woman who later became the current king’s wife. Some insiders claimed he had cheated on Camilla with Anne before their relationship began. Around the same time, Prince Charles started dating Camilla. The situation ultimately collapsed when Camilla and Andrew reunited, leaving the royal siblings separate once again.
In 1968, Anne met Mark Phillips at a party for equestrians. The two bonded over their shared love of horses and became a celebrated couple in the public eye. Mark, a lieutenant in the First Queen’s Dragoon Guards and a talented rider, had won team gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Their engagement was announced in May 1973, and they married that November in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
The wedding date was declared a bank holiday. Instead of traditional bride and groom figurines, the top of their wedding cake featured a female jockey leaping a fence. Mark chose not to accept any royal titles when he married Anne. Their children, Peter and Zara, were likewise born without courtesy titles, a major break from royal tradition.
The couple explicitly wanted their children to have as normal an upbringing as possible. Prince Charles was reportedly skeptical of Mark’s suitability and privately nicknamed him “Fog,” believing he was too dull. As the years passed, the marriage began to fray. By 1979, Anne was embroiled in scandal when allegations emerged that she had an affair with her own personal bodyguard, Sergeant Peter Cross.
The palace’s response was to dismiss Cross, which many felt only made matters worse. In 1984, Cross claimed the affair had indeed happened. The full truth of the matter has never been confirmed. It was not long before another scandal surfaced.
In the late 1980s, personal letters between Anne and Timothy Lawrence, a senior attendant to Queen Elizabeth, were stolen. The contents were never revealed, but their existence fueled speculation of a romantic indiscretion. Soon after, Anne and Mark Phillips separated and officially divorced in 1992. Anne remarried Timothy Lawrence just months later in a small ceremony in Scotland.
The Church of England did not allow people to remarry if their former spouses were still alive, which is why the wedding was held elsewhere. The two have remained quietly married ever since. Anne has long held a reputation for being prickly rather than warm. She often refuses to pose for photographs and dislikes shaking hands with the public, behavior that earned her the unflattering nickname “Her Royal Rudeness.
” She famously snapped at a journalist who pressed her about the birth of Prince George in 2013: “Well, it’s nothing to do with me. ” When asked why she was so obsessed with horses, she replied tartly, “Good question, and how long have you got? ”
Despite her sharp edges, she is deeply committed to charitable work. She is connected with more than 300 charities and organizations.
In 1990, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Kenneth Kaunda, then president of Zambia, in recognition of her efforts supporting children’s causes. The most frightening moment of her life came in 1974. She and Mark Phillips were returning to their London home when another car blocked their path. A man jumped out and began shooting, injuring Anne’s bodyguard, her chauffeur, and a nearby journalist who came to help.
The gunman grabbed Anne and demanded she get out of the car. She refused. A passerby named Ronald Russell, a six-foot-four former boxer, intervened, knocked the man out, and allowed Anne to escape. Police later found Valium, handcuffs, and a ransom note addressed to Queen Elizabeth demanding £3 million in exchange for Anne’s release.
The man reportedly intended to give the money to the National Health Service. His actions were attributed to a psychiatric condition. All seven people who intervened were honored by the queen. Ronald Russell received the George Medal, the second-highest civilian gallantry award.
When handing it to him, Queen Elizabeth reportedly said, “The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne’s mother. ”
Anne’s relationship with her brother has remained close since childhood, though she was reportedly unkind to Diana, Princess of Wales, privately referring to her as “the dope. ” She also made headlines for a reportedly frosty exchange with Cherie Blair, the wife of then Prime Minister Tony Blair, when she insisted on being called “Mrs. Blair” rather than by her first name.
Few royals can match Anne’s work ethic. Year after year, she undertakes more official engagements than any other family member, surpassing even the queen herself in 2017. Her approach to royal duty is simple: “Keep me busy, I’m here to work. ”
Anne holds the historic title of Princess Royal, reserved since 1642 for the monarch’s eldest daughter.
But it is her actions, and her memorable remarks, that have defined her. In a family often criticized for being out of touch, she has built a reputation as one of the hardest-working and most straightforward members of the modern royal household. At 75, she shows no signs of slowing down, still riding, still traveling the country, and still delivering the occasional sharp remark to anyone who crosses her.
