Princess Anne's VERY relaxed country compound, where ex-husbands and wives are ... trends now
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
