They married in a small, private service with just 30 guests at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral on 12 December 1992. At the time, the Church of England didn’t allow divorced people to re-marry in its churches while their former spouse was still alive, so the couple were forced to choose Scotland as their location. Anne became the first royal divorcee to remarry since Victoria, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, married Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia in 1905.
In an ITV show that was aired ahead of Princess Anne’s 70th birthday in August 2020 called Anne: The Princess Royal at 70 , Laurence spoke candidly about joining The Firm. He said: ‘One of the great surprises for me, when I first went to Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor was that these places are full of laughter.’ He also said in the documentary, ‘The similarities with her (Princess Anne’s) father are much talked about, but what is less spoken about is the similarities with her mother, the Queen… the common theme is humour, fun.’
Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence at Royal Ascot
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