With all the drama surrounding the younger members of the royal family, it can sometimes be easy to forget that the elder members have made quite a name for themselves. Princess Anne is definitely one example of this.
In fact, according to the Daily Mail, Princess Anne was engaged in numerous love affairs when she was young. While many think of her as a stern, sporty princess (even she once claimed about herself: "'Not everyone's idea of a fairy-tale princess"), Anne has definitely also entertained her fair share of suitors.
Based on the current season of The Crown and its depiction of the princess, the Daily Mail compiled a list of each of the men Anne is said to have been involved with. It may surprise viewers to learn that as Prince Charles was first falling in love with the woman then known as Camilla Shand, Anne was dating the man Camilla would ultimately marry first — Andrew Parker Bowles.
First on the list: Gerald Ward. Gerald is actually Prince Harry's godfather, and Anne dated him when she was in her late teens, after attending Benenden School. The two ultimately split up, and Gerald went on to marry twice, while Anne moved on to her next gentleman caller.
Anne's next boyfriend was Sandy Harper, son of a pony trainer. Anne and Sandy regularly visited disco clubs and seemed to be doing well, until Sandy gave an interview where he said, "I take out a lot of girls. There have been a few steadies in the past but it's never worked out."
Another suitor of note was the Earl of Caithness, Malcolm Ian Sinclair. His father worked as a land agent for the Queen, and the earl would go on to work as a Tory politician in Britain. He eventually went on to marry twice, first to Diana Coke and then to Leila Jenkins.
A whole crew of men allegedly followed, though the timelines are hazy. Anne was said to have been involved with Ewen Cameron, who is now known as Baron Cameron of Dillington. She also dated Brian Alexander, who later was in charge of the private Caribbean island Mustique that the princess liked to frequent.
Anne was rumored to be interested in then-Prince Carl Gustaf of Sweden, who eventually went on to become king. For her part, Anne was said to have mostly shown only a "cousinly" interest in the would-be king.
Royal insiders were sure that Anne would marry Richard Meade, who was believed to be one of her more serious boyfriends. However, rumors persisted that the Queen disapproved of the union, and the two eventually parted ways.
Fans of season three of The Crown might already know this tidbit, but back in the day when Charles and Camilla first met, Anne was actually dating … Andrew Parker Bowles! The relationship wasn't destined to last, as the romance ended when Andrew was posted to Germany during the war.
Happily, Princess Anne met her first husband, Mark Phillips, and the two married in November 1973. The two would go on to have two children, Peter and Zara. However, their marriage began to break down in 1985, when it was revealed that Mark had fathered another child outside of the relationship. The two separated in 1989 and officially divorced in 1992.
Princess Anne met her current husband, Timothy Laurence, and they married in 1992. The two actually met in 1986, when she was in the midst of the breakdown of her first marriage, and the existence of private letters exchanged between the pair was revealed in 1992. At the time, Buckingham Palace commented, "The stolen letters were addressed to the Princess Royal by Commander Timothy Laurence, the Queen's Equerry. We have nothing to say about the contents of personal letters sent to Her Royal Highness by a friend which were stolen and which are the subject of a police investigation."
As she has long been thought of as a more stern member of the monarchy, it's fun to poke and prod at her past and discover that when it comes to Princess Anne, there is definitely more than meets the eye. Fans of The Crown will no doubt enjoy the latest incarnation of Anne's various romances and relationships.
