Royals

Princess Anne Will Speak About Her Vogue Covers (And Near Kidnapping) In A Landmark Documentary

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Few members of The Firm are quite as progressive – or as private – as Princess Anne. Ahead of her 70th birthday on 15 August, however, the Queen’s only daughter will allow the public a glimpse behind-the-scenes of her royal life in an ITV documentary – reflecting on everything from her three British Vogue covers to her near-kidnapping in 1974. A crew shadowed the Princess for a year for the film – following the “hardest-working royal” to her countless engagements (including her presentation of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to Alighieri’s Rosh Mahtani), as well as capturing her life at home on her Gloucestershire estate, Gatcombe Park. The final cut includes interviews not only with Anne herself, but with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence; her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall; and close friends through the years, including many of her Ladies in Waiting.

Norman Parkinson
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Princess Royal: Anne At 70 will also highlight the many royal precedents set by the Princess. She became the first daughter of a monarch to attend school – and inherited her mother’s love of horses. A keen rider from girlhood, she won a gold medal at the European Championships in 1971, and became the first royal Olympian while competing in the Montreal 1976 Olympics. She ultimately married her teammate from the European Championships, army officer Captain Mark Phillips. Phillips declined to take the customary title of Earl, and Anne insisted that her children were referred to simply as Master and Miss. Phillips and Anne later divorced, with Anne going on to marry her current husband Laurence, then the Queen’s equerry.

Norman Parkinson

The documentary will also offer a glimpse into the evolution of Anne’s style through the years. From the moment she came of age, the Princess embraced the more liberal fashions of the late ’60s and early ’70s – incorporating flower-power prints and daring silhouettes into her official wardrobe. For her wedding to Phillips in 1973, she chose a minimalist gown – whose creation she oversaw herself with the help of designer Maureen Baker. The Westminster Abbey ceremony was viewed by an estimated 500 million people around the world.