1960's To 1970's - Princess Anne's Life Through Snapshots

Jan 24, 2021

Speaking in her documentary that came out in October 2020, Princess Anne, 70, revealed that, just like a few of the other members in her family, she has seen the popular Netflix series, "The Crown," a show inspired by the history of the British royal family. After the appearance of 'Princess Anne' on season three of the show, many fans were left wondering how similar the Princess Royal’s real life was to its portrayal on-screen. Read on as we take a look at photos of memorable moments in Princess Anne’s life through the years and decide for yourself whether or not Netflix has done justice in portraying it on your screens.

The more popular members of the royal family do seem to have something that is synonymous with them. Kate Middleton with her super-chic sense of style which she uses to pay homage when visiting another country. The inseparability of the Queen and her purses (Have you ever seen her without one?). The late Princess Diana and her habit of wearing jewelry in unconventional ways. As for Princess Anne, it has to be her voluminous hair.

In an interview with Town & Country magazine, the actress who plays ‘Princess Anne’ on the hit Netflix series "The Crown," Erin Doherty, shared that it takes two hours for the hair and makeup team on the set to get her hair done just the way the real Princess Anne’s hair looked in her younger days. "Makeup literally took 10 minutes, but hair, sometimes it would take two hours," Doherty, who played Princess Anne as a teenager, said. "It's its own beast. Literally, I would sit in the chair, people would come in and go and come in and go, and I sat still in the same place. But it was so necessary for her character because it felt like her hair and her fashion were the way that she was able to express herself in the confined, controlled environment that she grew up in."

This was something that intrigued the Princess Royal herself, who revealed during the filming of her ITV documentary, "Anne: The Princess Royal At 70," that it only takes her about an eighth of that time to achieve her signature hairdo. She joked:

“Actually I read an article the other day about The Crown, the actress was talking about how long it took them to do their hair like I did. And I’m thinking, ‘How could you possibly take that long?’ I mean it takes me 10 or 15 minutes.”

According to The Independent, the Princess also revealed that while she enjoyed the earlier episodes of The Crown, she does not watch the show anymore. Since there has been a growing interest in the royal since the breakthrough of her character in the show, here are some memorable moments of Princess Anne’s life during the 60s and 70s in photos.

The Queen and Prince Philip welcomed their second child and only daughter Princess Anne on August 15th, 1950. At the time of her birth, she was third-in-line to the throne behind her older brother Prince Charles and is now 14th after her youngest brother Prince Edward of Essex’s children, James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise Windsor. In the photo above, she is seen with her parents and her brother Prince Charles on the grounds of Clarence house back in 1951. Princess Anne is also the older sister of Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Here she is in September 1963 among her schoolmates during her first term at Benenden School, a boarding school for girls located in Kent, England. In an interview with Vanity Fair in April 2020, the Princess revealed that she was “only too pleased,” to be sent to boarding school at the age of 13. “I was ready to go to school. I had a governess and two friends and that was never going to be enough, really, so I was only too pleased to be sent off somewhere else,” she said to Vanity Fair. "I think boarding school has been demonised by some when in fact it’s a very important aspect to have available and many children actually thrive in it."

She began to accompany her parents on royal engagements and tours when she became old enough. Pictured here is their state visit to Austria in 1969 with matching gloves, matching sashes, and matching smiles. The two have been known to have donned matching outfits when attending royal events, though not in recent years. The pair flaunted their similar sense of style as they appeared at the UK film premiere of "Murder On The Orient Express" in London in 1974 in matching tonal blue dresses as they shared a sweet hand-holding moment.

Here she was at 19 years old, seen rocking a yellow with black accents ensemble as she attended the Bath and West Agricultural Show with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Bath, UK. The royal is known to wear coats to events quite often and it seems like yellow is one of her favorite colors — According to Town & Country magazine, Princess Anne has a yellow coat that she has re-worn to special occasions since 1980, the latest time being 2015 for the Royal Ascot.

She got married to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and was the first out of her three siblings to tie the knot. According to Tatler, the two met in Mexico City while attending an event for horse riding enthusiasts. Although they were rarely spotted out together, the strain of their relationship was highly publicized with reports of the both of them having affairs with other people (Princess Anne dated her brother’s wife Camilla Parker-Bowles' then-husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles). Their divorce was finalized in April 1992. The Princess and Phillips share two children together: Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, who are 15th and 18th in line to the throne respectively.

Following the breakup of her first marriage, Princess Anne was lucky to find love a second time, marrying Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence at Crathie Kirk in Scotland, on December 12, 1992. They do not have biological children together.

The Princess Royal is famous for loving horses and riding them. She had even been crowned as the European Eventing Champion in 1971. According to her trainer Alison Oliver, Anne’s love for horses stemmed from the fact that her parents did not treat her differently just because she was a princess. She told the 2002 Channel 4 documentary The Real Princess Anne that Anne liked the fact horses responded to her like any other rider.

Oliver said:

“The horses didn’t treat her any differently than it would anybody else and reacted to her as a rider and as a person, not as a princess.”

She added:

“Her ambition just grew and grew and she wanted to do well—well, I mean it was not enough just to do it well, she had to really win.”

According to the documentary, Anne’s love for horses was “close to an obsession” as it had been for her mother. In the photo above, she is riding a horse named Goodwill during the XXI Olympic Summer Games in July 1976 at the Olympic Equestrian Centre, Bromont, Québec, Canada.

Here she is with her mom as she carried her firstborn back in 1977 at Balmoral, England. The Queen's first grandchild was born to Anne and her first husband on November 15th of that year in St. Mary's Hospital. Her daughter, Zara Tindall (nee Phillips) was born on May 15th, 1981.

Princess Anne has an undeniably close bond with her mother and the pair share a love of sport, horse riding, and equestrian events in particular. The Princess Royal has also followed in her mother's footsteps with her work ethic and has regularly topped the hardest-working royal tally with hundreds of engagements carried out each year.

Here she is attending a guildhall banquet back in 1988. Last August, just a day before her 70th, the Princess Royal received two military promotions, as approved by her mother.

 According to Royal Central, she was promoted to the rank of general in the Army and air chief marshal in the Air Force. The appointments bring her ranks in-line in the Army and Air Force with her rank in the Royal Navy. The Ministry of Defence stressed that the royal has been “hugely supportive” of the British Armed Forces for a number of years. According to the BBC, they said: “This promotion on her 70th birthday recognizes her invaluable contribution and commitment to the military."

Have you seen The Crown? What do you think of the portrayal of the Princess Royal on the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to pass this story along to all the royal family fans in your life.