She was recently voted the most popular member of the Royal family for her ferocious work ethic, dedication to duty and ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude.
Princess Anne follows the example set by her late mother, the Queen, performing her public role uncomplainingly while carefully protecting her personal life behind the scenes.
It is in the privacy of her home in Gloucestershire that she relaxes, enjoying time with her loved ones and horse riding – a place where, she says, ‘it’s really nice to come back and just be yourself.’
Although she maintains a residence at St James’ Palace for use when in London, the rest of the time she can be found ensconced at her country home, the 700-acre Gatcombe Park in the Cotswolds.
At Gatcombe, located between the villages of Minchinhampton and Avening in Gloucestershire, the Princess Royal is surrounded by everything she loves: her extended family – complete with more than one former royal spouse – horses and bull terriers.
Princess Anne’s home at Gatcombe Park is a 700-acre Cotswolds estate. It is also a working organic farm with livestock including sheep, horses and rare-breed cattle
The interior is relaxed, as this picture she posed on the Royal Family’s Twitter account shows. Here, the Princess Royal, a patron of the Scottish Rugby Union, is watching England play Scotland with husband Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence
Princess Anne’s family live on the Gloucestershire estate. Daughter Zara and husband Mike Tindall are at Aston Farm with children, Mia, Lena and Lucas
Gatcombe Park is quite a contrast with the immaculately presented Highgrove House nearby, pictured, owned by brother Charles
Where Highgrove, the home of her brother King Charles in nearby Tetbury, boasts immaculately manicured gardens and carefully curated decor, the glimpses we’ve seen of the Princess Royal’s Grade II listed home reveal it as refreshingly cosy, even cluttered.
Her living room, seen in a photograph posted to Instagram during lockdown, is a comfortable jumble of family photographs, glass cases filled with animal ornaments, dog beds, distinctly 1970s-patterned floral sofas and garish lime green curtains.
Decidedly more rural than royal.
And while the divisions within the King’s family are all-too-well documented, Anne’s family ties are so close that her son and daughter, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, still live with their partners and children on the estate.
Even her former husband, Captain Mark Phillips, spent many years living at Gatcombe’s Aston Farm following their split and is still often to be found there.
Despite Peter’s divorce from Autumn Phillips in 2021, both he and Autumn have also remained living in the grounds to make it easier to co-parent their two children, Savannah and Isla.
Gatcombe has been Anne’s since 1976, when it was bought as a wedding present for her and her then-husband Captain Phillips by the Queen. Its previous owner, the former Conservative home secretary Lord Butler, sold it for between £500,000 and £750,000 – equivalent to almost £6million today.
The 18th century manor house comprises five main bedrooms, four secondary bedrooms, four reception rooms, a library, a billiards room and a conservatory, as well as staff accommodation.
Anne is now married to second husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence who helps run the estate. They are pictured here with their dog Eglantyne in 1993
Anne’s former husband, Captain Mark Phillips moved to Aston Farm, next to the Gatcombe Park estate, after their divorce. Today the farm is occupied by daughter Zara and her family
Princess Anne and first husband, Captain Mark Phillips together at the Gatcombe Park Horse Trials in 1985. They shared a love for all things equestrian
Mark, pictured at Gatcombe Park, continues to organise the annual Festival of British Eventing with The Princess Royal in the grounds of the Park
Captain Phillips in his study at Gatcombe Park in 1983. His marriage to Anne was said to have been hit by infidelity on both sides
Gatcombe Park, with its acres of land, was the ideal home for two dedicated equestrians. Anne won medals at the European Eventing Championships and, in 1976, became the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic games, while her husband won an Olympic gold.
However, the couple’s marriage was plagued by infidelity on both sides. Phillips reportedly had ‘semi-public’ affairs with ‘society call girl’ Pamella Bordes, a Canadian public relations executive and with an anchorwoman from a British television show. In 1985, he fathered a love child with a New Zealand art teacher, Heather Tonkin.
Princess Anne, meanwhile, was romantically linked to the actor Anthony Andrews as well as her bodyguard, Peter Cross.
She and Phillips separated in 1989 and eventually divorced in 1992, the Queen’s ‘annus horribilis’ in which three out of four of her children’s marriages ended.
That year, Princess Anne remarried to Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, a former Royal Navy officer with whom she had been involved for years.
Today, Sir Timothy helps the Princess maintain the estate, which is run as a working organic farm with a range of livestock, including breeding horses and cattle.
‘Being able to take on a place like this – for me, I’ve got to make it work,’ she has said. ‘This is not something that comes for free, this has got to pay its way, otherwise I can’t stay there.’
No wonder the back of her Range Rover is said to be full of hedge-cutting equipment.
The princess has said she is devoted to her flock of Scots Dumpty hens and her cultivation of White Park cattle has helped an endangered breed survive.
Princess Anne’s home at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire is not far from King Charles’s Highgrove. But royal watchers say they rarely pay visits to each other’s houses
Gatcombe Park was bought by the Queen in 1976 as a wedding present for Princess Anne and her then-husband Captain Mark Phillips
Phillips moved to Aston Farm within the Gatcombe Park estate (pictured) after his divorce from Anne. He continued to live there for many years with his second wife Sandy Pflueger
Princess Anne was also romantically linked to the actor Anthony Andrews (left) as well as her bodyguard, Peter Cross (right)
Anne and Phillips divorced in 1992. That same year, the princess married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence. They are seen here at the 2019 Gatcombe horse trials
Zara Phillips, pictured aged three at Gatcombe Park with her mother, the Princess Royal
Zara and brother Peter Phillips playing cricket at Gatcombe Park. Anne wanted her children to have an outdoor upbringing
Zara competing at the Gatcombe trials in 2008. She inherited her parents’ love of horses
Captain Mark Phillips was often spotted supporting Zara at competitive events
The couple enjoy watching the Scottish rugby team together and Sir Timothy has said of their similarities: ‘We are both map and chart people. We like to know where we are and see where we are going.’
However, Sir Timothy admits he does not share his wife’s passion for horses. ‘She grew up with horses, horses have been part of her life, but it’s not something I share with her,’ he said. ‘Sadly I’ve never been bitten by the horse bug.’
It’s perhaps their shared love for all things equestrian that has helped Anne and her first husband, Mark Phillips, to remain civil since their separation. Zara has said: ‘When they separated it was obviously sad, but the way they did it was not.’
Phillips moved to Aston Farm, the seven-bedroom farmhouse next to the Gatcombe Park estate, where he continued to live for many years with his second wife Sandy Pflueger and their daughter Stephanie, who grew up there.
Phillips has continued to be the subject of several scandals, including when he moved in with a woman 28 years his junior, showjumper Lauren Hough, after splitting from Pflueger in 2012.
Zara and Mike Tindall now have three children, Mia, Lucas and Lena (pictured at Gatcombe Park) who live with them on the estate
Princess Anne helps to teach her grandchildren to ride in their very own paddocks and is often seen cuddling them or holding their hands
Anne’s son Peter divorced his wife Autumn in 2021 (pictured together) but they have remained living in the grounds to make it easier to co-parent their two children, Savannah and Isla
Throughout it all, however, he has remained a central figure at Gatcombe. During Zara’s competitive career, he was often spotted supporting his daughter with his former wife at equestrian events.
To this day, he organises the annual Festival of British Eventing with Anne in the grounds of the Park – an event which attracts the world’s top equestrians, over 40,000 paying spectators and coverage on the BBC.
Last year, the Princess Royal made the magnanimous gesture of accompanying Zara, 41, and Peter, 44, to the wedding of Phillips’s daughter Stephanie to William Hosier at a church in Tetbury.
The Princess Royal offered another glimpse into Gatcombe when she made a broadcast during lockdown. The study seen in the background was another illustration of her practical taste, with off-white wallpaper, soft watercolour paintings and solid wood furniture.
Just the odd small touch – a large, ornate mirror, for example – hint at a grander royal setting.
When Zara, an Olympic equestrian – and silver medallist – married rugby player Mike Tindall, they initially lived in a £1.2 million home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but in 2013 they moved into Aston Farm after Zara’s father moved out. They have carried out extensive renovations and now have an impressive home gym, as well as adjoining stables for Zara’s horses.
Mike is known to get along famously with his mother-in-law, whose sharp wit is well documented. He recently revealed that he once did a ‘slut-drop’ in front of her, ripping his trousers to reveal boxer shorts with the slogan ‘Nibble my nuts’. ‘As I’ve turned around, she’s gone, “I’d rather not”,’ he said.
The Tindalls now have three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas, who was born in 2021 at home. Princess Anne helps to teach her grandchildren, including Savannah and Isla, to ride in their very own paddocks and is often seen cuddling them or holding their hands.
Autumn Phillips now has a new partner, Donal Mulryan, and Peter has a new girlfriend, Lindsay Wallace, but they continue to live at Gatcombe (Pictured: Peter Phillips and lindsay Wallace with Savannah and Isla)
Autumn Phillips now has a new partner, Donal Mulryan, and Peter has a new girlfriend, Lindsay Wallace, but they continue to live at Gatcombe and all four were all seen attending Stephanie’s wedding last year.
Despite the clamour of children, grandchildren, an ex-husband and his partner, there is one surprising absentee from the family gatherings: Anne’s older brother and neighbour King Charles, who royal watchers suggest is not a regular visitor.
(Not that Anne spends much time at Highgrove).
Perhaps that is due to change – as Anne’s position grows ever more prominent in the slimmed-down monarchy.
Will her careful older brother brave the dog hair and the mud at the surprisingly relaxed court of the Princess Royal?
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