Princess Anne: royal expert on why Mark Phillips is untitled
Anne is said to have turned her back on Harry when she returned to the UK in April for Prince Philip’s funeral, after the Sussexes attacked The Firm in their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey. However, the decisions of the Princess Royal’s early life helped set a precedent for Harry and Meghan as they began to reject the restrictions of life behind the palace walls. Anne wanted to raise her children as private citizens, just like Harry and Meghan, and chose to live away from traditional palaces by purchasing her own Gloucestershire estate, Gatcombe Park.
Similarly, the Sussexes chose to leave the Kensington Palace estate less than a year after their marriage and move to a more private home in Windsor, Frogmore Cottage.
In his book ‘Princess Anne: A Biography’, Nicholas Courtney explained how the Princess Royal repeatedly bucked the trend when it came to establishing her family life.
Courtney said that “journalists and biographers visiting Gatcombe for the first time are still impressed by the informality of the place.”
He continued: “That they should use expressions such as the most ‘disloyal of the royal houses’ presupposed that they attributed them to a life of lackeys with knee-length breeches and powdered wigs, a butler with a coat and a bow tie collar and a series of gilded drawings. «.
Princess Anne’s most disloyal home of all royal houses paved the way for Harry and Meghan (Image:.)
Anne is said to have turned her back on Harry at Philip’s funeral (Image:.)
Gatcombe also made headlines earlier this year after the Princess Royal shared a photo of herself watching rugby at home.
Royal observers were in awe of the homey atmosphere, while others even went so far as to call it “messy.”
Meghan and Harry reportedly made their first home together, Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington estate, as “comfortable and elegant” as possible, according to the Finding Freedom biography.
When Anne and her first husband Mark Phillips first saw their 730-acre home in 1976, they pooled their equity and made up the difference with a mortgage, another marked change from most royals.
At the time, Mark said, “We are like any other couple with a mortgage.”
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Princess Anne’s home in Gloucestershire, owned by Gatcombe Park (Image:.)
This is also the path that Harry and Meghan have followed since leaving the Firm.
They bought a sprawling $ 14.65 million (£ 11 million) mansion in California, in the secluded community of Montecito, but reportedly took out a $ 9.5 million (£ 6.8 million) mortgage to buy it. for the 7.4 acre property.
Their spokesperson explained: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their family home in July this year.
“They have settled in the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected by their neighbors, as well as by them as a family.”
Their new home is 100 miles from Los Angeles, where they briefly settled.
Like Anne, Harry supposedly found it difficult in the busy city and sought privacy away from crowds.
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Anne is known to be more informal than some of her relatives (Image:.)
The Sussexes’ home in Windsor, Frogmore Cottage, before moving to the US (Image:.)
According to Courtney, the Princess Royal once admitted that she liked her time alone.
She said, “After being in public for a few days, I want to be alone.”
She added: “It’s good to go out and not talk and be alone; he needs it. “
This is what first attracted the couple to the Gatcombe property. Mark said, “We stood on the front steps and looked at the view; it was quiet, it was secluded, it was peaceful with forests on either side of a long valley.
“I thought to myself: well, whatever is inside, we can change it, over time.
“But this we can never change.
“This is just what we’ve been looking for.”
Anne with her first husband Mark Phillips (Image:.)
Harry and Meghan even tried to keep the location of their new home a secret for several months when they first moved out of Los Angeles.
However, Anne has been praised for her unwavering dedication to the crown, while the Sussexes have faced intense backlash since leaving their royal duties behind last year.
Anne’s first husband, Mark, also turned down the queen’s offer of a royal title, preferring to use her army prefixes, while her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, were raised without any title.
During their interview with Oprah, both Meghan and Harry said that they had felt deeply hurt when it seemed that their firstborn Archie was not going to have the title of Prince when he was born and therefore would not have the security that accompanied him.
There is also widespread speculation as to whether Prince Charles told the couple that he would change the legislation so that Harry and Meghan’s children Archie and Lilibet still do not become prince and princess even as their grandfather inherited the throne.
Nicholas Courtney’s ‘Princess Anne: A Biography’ was published in 1986 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and is available here.
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