Royals in Medals #3 - Anne, Princess Royal (and family)

The Princess Royal in the uniform of the Master of Trinity House, June 2012

Princess Anne (full name Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise) was born on 15 August 1950 at Clarence House, London.  She is the second child and only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.  She was educated privately and at school in Kent.  She showed an early interest in equine pursuits and is renowned as a horsewoman - she won gold and silver medals in three-day eventing and competed at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.  It was through these interests that she met her first husband, Capt Mark Philips, and the tradition is carried on by he daughter, Zara (who competed in the London Olympics.

Another interest, apparently originating from childhood holidays in the Western Isles is pharology, the study of lighthouses.  She is Master of Trinity House and Patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board - the official bodies which maintain and govern lighthouses in the UK.

21st Birthday Portrait, 1971

Princess Anne is one of the busiest members of the Royal Family, being the patron of over 200 organisations, and she carries out about 500 royal engagements and public appearances per year.  She is particularly active in Scotland.  She is known for her no-nonsense approach and disdain for anything touching on celebrity.  The former is perhaps best exemplified by her response to gunman who had just shot her driver and bodyguard and told to get out of her car during a kidnap attempt - 'Not bloody likely!'

  
In June 1987, Princess Anne was given the style 'Princess Royal', the seventh holder of the title reserved for the eldest daughter of the monarch.

Honorary Military Appointments

Anne's most prominent (most photographed) honorary appointments are her naval roles and as Colonel of the Blues and Royals (also known as Gold Stick) - in the latter appointment she attends many state occasions, including Trooping of the Colour.

In the uniform of Colonel of the Blues and Royals

United Kingdom
  
Colonel-in-Chief of the King's Royal Hussars
Colonel-in-Chief of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment
Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Corps of Signals
Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Logistic Corps
Colonel-in-Chief the Royal Army Veterinary Corps
Colonel of the Blues and Royals
Royal Colonel of the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
Royal Colonel of the 52nd Lowland Regiment, 6th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
Royal Honorary Colonel of the University of London OTC
Commandant-in-Chief of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps)
Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lyneham
Honorary Air Commodore of the University of London Air Squadron
Admiral and Chief Commandant for Women in the Royal Navy
Commodore-in-Chief of HM Naval Base Portsmouth

Australia

Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Canada

Colonel-in-Chief of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters
Colonel-in-Chief of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's)
Colonel-in-Chief of the Communications and Electronics Branch
Colonel-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces Medical Service
Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regina Rifles
Colonel-in-Chief of Royal Newfoundland Regiment  

New Zealand

Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals
Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Nursing Corps

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the sinking of HMS
Hood, 2016

Orders, Decorations and Medals

Orders
 

Order of the Garter
Royal Knight, 23 Apr 1994

Order of the Thistle
Extra Knight, 2000





Royal Victorian Order
Dame Grand Cross (GCVO), 15 Aug 1974
Grand Master of the Order from 2007

Most Venerable Order of St John
Dame of Justice (DStJ), 1971
Dame Grand Cross (GCStJ), 1998

Queen's Service Order
Extra companion (QSO), 1990

 

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II

1969

Commemorative Medals

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, 1953

  Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977
  Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2002
  Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012

  Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan 2005

Long Service Awards

  Canadian Forces Decoration (CD), with two clasps, 1982

Service Medal of the Order of St John, with (?two) gilt bars.

Foreign Awards

• Austria.  Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic - Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash, 1969
• Finland.  Order of the White Rose of Finland - Commander Grand Cross, 1969
• Japan.  Order of the Precious Crown  - Grand Cordon, 1971
• The Netherlands  Order of the House of Orange - Grand Cross, 1972
• Luxembourg.  Order of the Oak Crown  - Grand Cross, 1972
• Republic of Yugoslavia.    Order of the Yugoslav Flag - First Class (With Sash), 1972.  Defunct, 1991
• Papua New Guinea.  Order of  Logohu - Grand Companion (GCL), 2005.  Anne was the first recipient of the award.

Husbands

 

Captain Mark Phillips

Mark Phillips was born on 22 September 1948, the son of Major Peter William Garside Phillips and Anne Patricia Phillips (née Tiarks).  After Marlborough, he passed out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1969 and was commissioned into the Queen's Dragoon Guards.  He was promoted Captain in 1975 and resigned from the army in 1978.

He met Princess Anne at the Munich Olympics, where he was a member of the three-day event team (winning a Gold Medal).  They married on 13 November 1973 at Westminster Abbey.  He turned down the offer of a peerage (an earldom was probably on offer).  The couple had two children, separated in 1989 and divorced in April 1992.

Prince Charles and Prince Andrew are reputed to have given Philips the nickname 'Foggy' - because he was wet and thick.

Orders, Decorations and Medals

Orders

Royal Victorian Order
Commander (CVO), 1974







Commemorative Medals
 
  Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977

 Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence

 

After being appointed CB, but while still a MVO

Timothy Hamilton Laurence was born on 1 March 1955, son of Cdr Guy Stewart Laurence, RN, and Barbara Alison Laurence (née Symons).

He entered the Royal Navy in 1973, attending the University of Durham on a naval scholarship.  He had several sea-going appointment (including a spell as navigating officer of HMY Britannia)  before being appointed equerry to the Queen in 1986 and command of the frigate Boxer in 1989.  He has held several staff appointment in the MoD, including Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (2004-2007)  and  Chief Executive of Defence Estates (207-2010).   He retired from the Navy in 2010 in the rank of Vice-Admiral.

He and Princess Anne were married at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, on 12 December 1992.

As a board member of the CWGC he has taken a prominent role in ceremonies commemorating the centenary of the First World War.

Orders, Decorations and Medals

Orders

Royal Victorian Order
Member (MVO), 1989
Knight Commander (KCVO), 2011

Order of the Bath
Companion, military division, (CB), June 2007










Campaign Medals 

  General Service Medal (1962-2007), 1 clasp (Northern Ireland) with Mention in Dispatches for his actions in command of HMS Cygnet on anti gun-running patrol, 1982


Commemorative Medals

  Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002
  Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012

Foreign Awards 

   Companion of the Order of the Star of Melanesia (CSM), 2005
Laurence was the first recipient of the award - on the occasion that Princess Anne became the first recipient of the Order of the Logohu.

Sir Timothy Laurence was presented with his CB at the same investiture as Zara Phillips was given her MBE

Children

Anne had two children by Mark Phillips: Peter (b. 1977) and Zara (b. 1981).  As female-line grandchildren of the Sovereign, they children were never eligible for the style 'Royal Highness' or the title 'Prince/Princess' under the terms of George V's letters patent of 1917.  They have been granted no other title.

However, Zara Phillips was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2007 New Year's Honours List for her services to equestrianism.  She was a member of the medal-winning team at the London Olympics.