«If someone doesn’t kick and eat hay, Anna doesn’t careThe prince once declared Filippo speaking of the queen’s only daughter Elizabeth II. A way to tell, with his proverbial irony, that the princess only loves horses. His first wedding was certainly all about horse racing. With the captain of the Queen’s Dragoon Regiment Mark Phillips, not an aristocrat but, in fact, a knight. The two met at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he, riding a steed, won a gold medal in the team competition.
The commune passion for horses joined them instantly. Even to ask her in marriage, in April 1973, Mark chose an equestrian event, the Badminton Horse Trials. The two wasted no time: iOn November 14, 1973, they were on the altar of Westminster Abbey to exchange wedding vows in front of two thousand guests e over 500 million viewers, glued to the TV for the first royal wedding of one of the Queen’s sons. As well as the first royal wedding illuminated by television lights.
Theirs is a story that starts in symbiosis: always together, even in tragicomic attempted kidnapping in 1974, When an improvised brigand, Mr. Ian Ball, stopped the Rolls Royce that was taking the couple to Buckingham Palace, he waved a gun and ordered the princess to follow him. The unfortunate man found the victim’s icy gaze planted in his eyes: “It’s damn unlikely. And now go away. ‘ Result: Ball was arrested.
The marriage of Anna and Mark was soon gladdened by the birth of two children: Peter (in 1977) and Zara (In 1981). Which by choice of parents do not have noble titles. Mum and dad wanted a life that was as free and “normal” as possible for them. Despite the arrival of two heirs, the conjugal serenity, according to the gossip of the time, did not last long. It was said that Mark continually betrayed his august consort. It was said that Anna had an affair with his security officer, Peter Cross. But only because Phillips, who had invented a business of jumps and obstacles for horse riding, had started touring stables around the world to sell his aristocratic wares and he deigned to appear alongside his wife only on official occasions most important. It was also said that the spouses, when traveling together on behalf of the queen, slept in separate rooms or even hotels.
So far the voices of the people. Prelude to a double of scandals which shook Buckingham Palace. In 1989 some members of the palace staff stole the lots passionate love letters that Queen Timothy Laurence’s squire, Anna’s current very discreet husband number two, had written to the princess. And he fed them to the press. The news of the “forbidden letters” went around the world. But the worst was yet to come. In April 1991 the Daily Express revealed that New Zealander Heather Tonkin, art teacher and expert horse rider at the time thirty-seven, he had sued Captain Phillips before the Auckland court. «To make sure that Mark publicly acknowledges that he has a daughter, our daughter, Felicity. I want her birth certificate to have the surname of the man who generated her, ”said the woman Mark took a fling with in 1985.
The first meeting between the two took place in an Auckland riding school. Then a single night of madness that had turned into sweet expectation. Heather, certain of her father’s identity, had also phoned Gatcombe Park, the residence that the queen had given to Anna and Mark: she warned her lover, he was cold. “It is better that you terminate the pregnancy“, He told her. She got excited: “I’ll do it all by myself.” Thus was born the third daughter of Mark, whom the captain (nailed by the DNA test) then recognized but never wanted to meet.
The official divorce between the princess and Phillips, who had announced the separation as early as 1989, was staged in 1992. Before the most famous (and mediatic) separation between Carlo and Diana. Anna became like that the first of the Windsor brothers to cause scandal by breaking up their marriage. A hard blow for mother Elizabeth II, who again saw family affairs slammed into the front pages of tabloids around the world. «The formal divorce will not change the agreements made by the two former spouses in various fields, such as the financial one (including the division of 1524 wedding gifts) and the custody of the children, Peter aged 14 and Zara aged 10, who will continue to live with their mother in the Gatcombe residence, a few kilometers from the farm bought three years ago by Mark “, he wrote for example the Republic in April 1992. “In six weeks, when the court issues the final decree, Anna will return to all intents and purposes single and will therefore be able to get married again. And according to the well-informed it is precisely for this reason – because she wants to remarry – that the princess has so insisted on a divorce: soon she could marry with the man she has been attached to for three years, her former squire Timothy Laurence».
The princess’s second wedding actually took place very early, in December 1992. But the bond with Mark never ended. Because of the two children but also of the passion for horses that made them fall in love. The only thing they had in common, according to the evil ones, when they were husband and wife. Certainly one thing in common that has gone through the times of scandals and betrayals unscathed. Several times Anna and Mark, over the years, they have been photographed along with numerous horse racing events. And the images (see gallery up) tell, amid chatter and smiles, the story of a tumultuous love that has been able to turn into friendship.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
