On 29 May 1973, the engagement of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips was announced. She was not created Princess Royal until 1987, and as a child of the monarch, she was known as “The Princess Anne.”
The New York Times reported, “They met at the horse events at the Olympics in Mexico. They competed in jumping trials all over England. Their romance became the talk of the land. And tonight Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of the two young riders: Princess Anne and Lieutenant Mark Phillips.”1
They were married at Westminster Abbey on 14 November 1973, her brother’s 25th birthday. The service was conducted by Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Princess Anne wore a Tudor-style wedding dress with embroidery and a high collar. The dress was designed by Maureen Baker, who was the chief designer for Susan Small. The New York Times described it as “princess line, with Elizabethan sleeves over finely pleated white silk chiffon undersleeves, which were edged with pearls and mirror jewels. The transparent shoulder train was of silk net, embroidered with floral sprays of silk and silver thread.”2 She wore the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara to secure her veil. Mark Phillips wore the dress uniform of the Queen’s Dragoon Guards.
The BBC broadcasted the ceremony, and millions watched from all over the world.
Mark Phillips revealed in their pre-wedding interview that he had not been offered a peerage and that he would not have accepted one if he had been offered one. Thus, Princess Anne was styled as “The Princess Anne, Mrs. Mark Phillips” until she was created Princess Royal in 1987.
They went on to have two children together, Peter (born 1977) and Zara (born 1981), before divorcing in 1992. Anne remarried in December 1992 to Timothy Laurence.
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