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How their love affair blossomed

The Princess Royal and Commander Timothy Laurence

HELLO! Number 233 | Published: December 19th 1992 | Article 2/2

When Princess Anne's happy secret that she planned to wed Commander Timothy Laurence leaked out it brought much-needed joy to the beleaguered royal family.

One of the rare happy moments in a year of royal troubles came in May when Anne danced around a ballroom in the arms of her dashing naval officer. By “going public" with Tim just four weeks after her divorce from Captain Mark Phillips, she signalled that she was planning a future with the Queen's former equerry.

It was also her way of testing the water - to find out what the public's response might be. The general reaction was that the hard-working Princess deserved to find happiness at last after the break-up of her first marriage. But, in withholding the announcement of her betrothal until almost the last minute, Anne is once again proving that she likes to do things her way.

When she married Captain Phillips in 1973 she broke with royal precedent by insisting that her husband should not be given a title which he had not earned. This meant that her son Peter, 14, and daughter Zara, 11, have been the only grandchildren of a monarch this century who remain untitled.

Now Anne is once again setting a precedent by becoming the first divorced member of the Queen's family to marry for the second time. But, to avoid embarrassing her mother who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which does not sanction the remarriage of divorced people, she made the decision to wed in Scotland, because the Church of Scotland does not ban divorcées from remarrying.

And the man she has chosen comes from a vastly different background from her own. Tim Laurence is the great-great-great-grandson of a real-life merchant of Venice, called Zaccaria Levy, who in the 18th century left his home in the Italian city to forge a new life in England.

His business flourished and he became one of the first Jewish underwriters to become a member of Lloyds. In 1826, his son Joseph changed the family name to Laurence and by the next generation the family had abandoned its Jewish faith with Joseph's son, Percy, becoming an Anglican vicar.

And, at the weekend, Tim Laurence married in a Scottish village church, so different a setting from Princess Anne's first wedding in Westminster Abbey. But the Princess wants her new life to go on the way it began - out of the spotlight.

It was away from the limelight of official occasions ; that Princess Anne first began to notice Tim Laurence. In fact, they met through work - Tim was a junior officer in the Royal Navy, serving aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. But it was not until 1986, when he became an equerry to the Queen, that they really got to know one another.

The Princess, who was frequently at Buckingham Palace on official duties, could not help bumping into the quiet, well-spoken young officer. And when she needed an adviser on her work for a charitable trust she thought of Tim Laurence immediately. Although the Princess was still married to Captain Philips, she was lonely. Tim was sympathetic and the soul of discretion but they maintained nothing ; more than a friendship.

At the same time, the Queen recognised her equerry's worth by turning to him constantly for assistance on her royal engagements. She awarded his diligence in August 1989 by making him a Member of the Royal Victorian Order, MVO, a personal award.

During this period, while the world speculated about her private life, Princess Anne simply got on with her job. The Queen grieved for her daughter and appreciated the fortitude Anne displayed over such a long period of unhappiness. Her dedication to a number of good causes, notably the Save The Children Fund won her the respect and admiration of the public and gradually the transformation from the former royal spoilsport, who told the Press to "Naff off", into the royal workhorse was completed.

To single her out from her sisters-in-law, the Queen wanted to honour her only daughter with the title Princess Royal. It was some time before Anne, who had been initially reluctant to accept, agreed - and the title was conferred in 1987. Between then and now the Princess Royal has devoted herself to her work but for the whole of this year her happiness has been evident to those around her and said far more than any Palace announcement.

And not even the ruby ring on her third finger, left hand, could match the sparkle in her eyes when the news was officially given that she and Tim would marry. Not so long ago, the Princess said: "Sailing on a sunny day with a fresh breeze blowing, with maybe somebody you really care for, is the nearest thing to Heaven I will get on this Earth", and it seems no coincidence that since she became close to Tim her love of sailing increased. At first the couple sailed on the Solent but when their plans to marry in Scotland were completed, her 36ft yacht Blue Doublet was moved to a new mooring on Lock Craigie.

Over the past month they have enjoyed several weekends sailing to the Outer Hebrides and to the islands of Jura and Mull. Far from the world's prying eyes, they could just be together, not Princess and commoner but friends who found love.

Princess Anne shone with happiness (above) when she was seen in public with Tim for the first time, in May at the Royal Caledonian Ball.

They've also been spotted together in private (left). He was a step behind her (right) at Ascot in 1987.

Tim’s calm discretion and charm quickly won him a special place in the midst of the royal family. Only a few feet from Anne (top) and already a familiar presence with little Zara (left). Over four years ago (right) he was a protective presence behind Princess Margaret.

Christmas Day 1987 at Sandringham and Tim leaves church with the royal family, right behind the Duchess of Kent (top left). When Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visited the Queen at Windsor Castle, Tim was there too (top right) smartly saluting only a couple of paces behind Her Majesty and Mrs Gorbachev (below centre)

Commander Tim Laurence and Princess Anne’s family trees.

REPORT: JUDY WADE

MAIN PHOTOS: NICHOLAS READ/REX FEATURES

#and they’re still going strong 30 years later #cutest couple in the brf #they deserve the whole world #get you a man like timothy laurence #always there to support his wife #they are so in love and always have been #princess anne #princess royal #tim laurence #timothy laurence #hello magazine

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aimeedaisies · 1 year

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It was thirty years ago today…

With pipers playing a traditional Scottish air, the wedding party emerges from Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral Castle. From the left: the bridegrooms mother, Mrs Barbara Laurence, Commander Tim Laurence, the Princess Royal, the Queen and the brides daughter, Zara Phillips.

The wedding of The Princess Royal and Commander Tim Laurence

HELLO! Number 233 | Published: December 19th 1992 | Article 1/2

Princess Anne's short and simple wedding ceremony turned into a traditional Highland celebration when she and her husband drove through the gates of Balmoral Castle. Estate workers had prepared an open carriage drawn by fell ponies to take the laughing newlyweds up the hill to their reception in the Queen's Scottish home. It was a romantic ending to an intimate country wedding on Royal Deeside.

Just as the bride had wished, it was a quiet, unpretentious affair with only immediate family plus a few close friends and estate workers present. In stark contrast to the grand state occasion of her first marriage at Westminster Abbey 19 years ago, last week's ceremony was consecrated in a tiny granite kirk on a bleak hill in the remote and beautiful landscape beneath Lochnagar.

Outside Crathie Church, a small crowd had gathered by mid-morning in freezing temperatures, five hours before the bride arrived. The groom, smiling nervously, was the first of the bridal party to arrive with his brother Jonathan and best man Charles Barker-Wyatt. Tim Laurence, 37, wearing the uniform of a Royal Navy commander, looked at the sky and told his friend: "The weather is not too bad."

At 2.50pm the Queen, the Queen Mother and Prince Charles arrived in a Land Rover driven by the Duke of York. He gallantly leaped out to help his 92-year-old grandmother when she said: "I can't get down. Can you help me?" He brought a footstool from the back of the car and placed it by her door so that she could step down without difficulty. Next to arrive was Princess Margaret with Anne's son Peter in another Land Rover driven by Prince Edward.

When the bride finally swept into view down the road from the castle the frozen crowd gave her a warm welcome. As her car, driven by her father, the Duke of Edinburgh, slowly crept past, it was possible to see that Anne, 42, was wearing an ivory woollen suit. Her hair, for the first time in years, flowed down her back beneath a small brown hat decorated with freesias, and she carried a small posy of white Highland heather. In the back seat was her only attendant, her 11-year-old daughter Zara Phillips, in a warm red hooded coat.

The princess removed a brown checked shawl she had worn around her shoulders on the half-mile trip from the castle as the car pulled up outside Crathie Kirk. Then, her happiness clear for all to see, she paused at the church door and checked that Zara was right behind her. When the organ music began she turned to her father, took his arm, grinned and said: "Come on."

The ecumenical Church of Scotland service was conducted by the Minister at Crathie, the Reverend Keith Angus, a member of the Queen's Chapel Royal in Scotland.

The bride did not promise to obey. Instead, according to the ritual of the unrevised Church of Scotland Marriage Service, the couple simply pledged to be "faithful and dutiful" to one another. With Zara Phillips standing beside her mother holding her white heather posy, the Reverend Keith Angus told the couple that "marriage was not to be entered upon lightly or inadvisedly, but thoughtfully."

He reminded them that it was also "ordained for the lifelong companionship, help and comfort, which husband and wife ought to have of each other."

At the end of the solemnisation, the couple knelt together before the lona marble communion table at the front of the wood-panelled church. With the princess kneeling to the left of Commander Laurence, the couple both bowed their heads. The Queen and her family, in their own separate annexe, knelt in pine pews at right angles to the main congregation. Friends and estate workers followed suit as the Reverend Keith Angus recited the "favoured" blessing from the Church of Scotland's Book of Common Order.

At the end of the service, the newly married couple walked into the vestry to sign the register privately. And, just 25 minutes after the bride had walked down the aisle, the wedding was over.

Twilight comes early in the Highlands and dusk was creeping through the valleys as the newlyweds emerged from the kirk to the skirl of bagpipes. Two local pipers played a stirring rendition of the old Gaelic tune Mhairi's Wedding.

Two children who live on the estate then came forward to present the bride with bunches of heather before rejoining a dozen other local youngsters given a prime vantage point by the church door.

The beaming bride then beckoned to her daughter to come forward. “Are we all going to come out?" the Queen asked the Duke of Edinburgh, and when he nodded, the whole family joined Mr and Mrs Timothy Laurence outside.

Meanwhile, Princess Anne turned to her new mother-in-law and showed her the flowers and lucky horseshoes presented by the local children. When another guest asked where they came from, Anne indicated the excited crowd of youngsters on her left and said: "Over there."

As the couple received congratulations, the Queen asked: "Where are we going now?" Princess Anne replied: "We will have to wait to have our photographs taken before we go."

Then the bride stepped back into the blue Land Rover Discovery which had brought her to the church and, with Tim Laurence at the wheel, they drove slowly back down the hill and across the River Dee. Back at the church, the Queen walked over to say hello to the children. "Are you still having your Christmas play next week?" she asked. When informed it was still on, she apologised because she would not be able to attend. "I'm so sorry I will be missing it.

Then the whole family climbed back into their cars and followed the bride and groom on the short drive back to the castle. That is when the estate workers welcomed the newlyweds in true Balmoral style.

It has become a royal custom for the residents on the Queen's Scottish estate to mark special events in the family's lives in this way. When Prince Andrew came home a hero from the Falklands War the estate workers also decorated a cart to carry him from the castle gates. And instead of using ponies the locals pulled the open cart themselves. A similar celebration was arranged when Prince Charles and Princess Diana first visited the castle after their marriage.

On the happy day last week, the bride flung a white woollen shawl around her shoulders to keep out the cold on the slow, but fun-filled journey up the private road leading to the castle portico. Inside, the housekeeper was waiting with a real Highland high tea - including the local black bun, a kind of fruit loaf, that all the royals love so much. An hour after the wedding reception began, it was all over, and the guests began heading back along the Deeside Road to Aberdeen airport.

The princess and her husband drove off to spend their brief three-day honeymoon half a mile away at the grey stone Craigowen Lodge beside the Balmoral golf course. There housekeeper, Hazel Essen, had a warm fire waiting in the drawing room grate to welcome them. Then the newlyweds shut out the world to enjoy being man and wife.

It was not the usual kind of royal wedding. But as the bride once said: "I was never the fairytale princess." For the royal family it was a heart-warming occasion, a happy new beginning at the end of a year during which the Queen and her relatives have been beset by troubles.

It was the first time a divorced member of the Queen's immediate family had remarried. And as the Church of England does not sanction the remarriage of divorces, the princess had decided to hold her wedding north of the border where the Church of Scotland does carry out such ceremonies.

The happy result was a gathering of the blood royal members of the Queen's family in their best-loved rural retreat. It was a show of solidarity by the people who love the bride best - her parents, her three brothers and her grandmother.

Far away from the strife that has surrounded them all year, they could have a happy day privately with the spotlight of the media kept at a distance. And the small crowd who had gathered there to wish them well thoroughly approved of the starkly simple ceremony.

Lena Morrison, a nurse from the nearby village of Cairney, summed up the feelings of many when she said: "Now she is getting her second chance at happiness and we are here to show her and her mother - that we love and support them." The loudest cheers of all came when the Queen passed by.

As her annus horribilis drew to an end everyone seemed to be hoping that the New Year would be filled with many more occasions just as happy as her daughter's second wedding.

The newlyweds with the Princess Royal’s two children Zara and Peter (left). Taking their wedding vows the couple pledged to be “faithful and dutiful”. The bride looked radiant in an ivory fitted outfit with her hair worn loose and carefree.

The official wedding portraits. The bride and groom (left). The immediate families (right), back row, left to right: Commander Timothy Laurence, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh. Front row, left to right: Peter Phillips, Mrs Barbara Laurence, Zara Phillips and the Queen.

The royal guests arrived in quick succession. Prince Andrew drove the first car with Prince Charles as the front seat passenger, and the Queen and Queen Mother together in the back (left). The bride, with her daughter Zara sitting in the back of the car, was driven to Crathie Kirk by the Duke of Edinburgh (right).

First to arrive was the groom with his best man Charles Barker-Wyatt, a former Navy colleague (left). They waited for a few minutes before going inside the church to wait for the bride who, in keeping with tradition, arrived a few minutes late (right).

The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret with Zara in the background holding lucky horseshoes given to her mother (left). Prince Andrew and Prince Charles (centre). Reverend Keith Angus and Right Reverend Michael Mann chat to Brigadier Charles Ritchie (below right).

A joyful bride wearing something old - her ivory woollen suit - and something new - her gold wedding ring, pauses for a brief moment at the door of Crathie Church (left). Looking on, a happy Queen Mother and Zara Phillips with the grooms mother Mrs Barbara Laurence (right).

Princess Anne and Commander Tim Laurence step out into their new life together, as delighted family, friends and estate workers crowd around the church door to wish them every happiness for the future. Two local pipers in traditional dress played the Gaelic tune ‘Mhairi’s Wedding’ to greet the newlyweds.

Following the ceremony the Duke of Edinburgh drove the Queen Mother, The Queen and Prince Charles back to Balmoral for the reception (left and centre). Prince Andrew drove Princess Margaret and Prince Edward back from Crathie Church to Balmoral (right). It was cold and dark by the time the royal party arrived at the castle but their spirits were high as they celebrated the Princess Royal’s special day.

As the newlyweds set off for the reception at Balmoral Castle, the crowds who had gathered outside the church wished them a long, happy and healthy future together. The brides posy of white heather was propped on the dashboard of the couples blue Discovery for the short journey (above).

MAIN PHOTOS: NICHOLAS READ/REX FEATURES

REPORT: JUDY WADE

#wishing them both a wonderful 30th anniversary #and they’re still going strong 30 years later #they deserve all the happiness #get you a man like timothy laurence #always there to support his wife #they are so in love and always have been #cutest couple in the brf #hello magazine #crathie kirk #balmoral castle #1992 #princess anne #princess royal #tim laurence #timothy laurence

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