Princess Anne marches into Sandhurst as 90s love story steals the parade

Princess Anne is marching back into the spotlight this festive season.

Kensington Palace confirmed she will attend the December Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on December 12 fit for the most hardworking royal in epaulettes.

Sandhurst hosts three Sovereign’s Parades a year, one for each graduating intake of the 44-week Commissioning Course for Regular Army officers. 

Duchess Sophie took the honours in April, and now it’s the Princess Royal’s turn to step forward, salute, and send off another cohort of freshly minted British Army officers.

The academy, the beating heart of British Army officer training, has long held a special place in royal tradition and Anne’s attendance keeps the rhythm steady. 

Whenever possible, the monarch’s representative is chosen from those already close to the event, and Anne, a lifelong champion of the armed forces, fits the bill with military precision.

As a new season of royal retrospection takes viewers back to the 1990s, Princess Anne finds herself enjoying a quiet resurgence. 

It’s the decade that saw the end of her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips and the beginning of one of the Royal Family’s most enduring modern love stories, Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

The pair’s romance began in 1986 aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, where Laurence was serving as the Queen’s equerry. 

It started as a warm friendship soon deepened, and in 1989, the Palace was forced to confirm the theft of the now-infamous “personal letters” he sent her.

“Nothing to say,” a Palace spokesperson insisted at the time firm proof that royal discretion can survive even a police investigation.

Just weeks later, Anne and Timothy made their first public appearance as a couple at the Royal Caledonian Ball, a quiet debut for a steadfast partnership. 

He later proposed with a striking cabochon sapphire and diamond ring, and the pair married in December 1992 at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral.