Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence live in a stunning manor house at Gatcombe Park with a reported five main bedrooms and four secondary bedrooms to sleep themselves and their guests.
However, the Princess Royal has not always had a plethora of choice (or space!) when it comes to her sleeping arrangements. Before she met Tim, Anne was married to her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, whom she met while he was serving on the Royal Yacht Britannia.
In a sweet nod to their love story and Mark’s naval career, the couple chose to return to the iconic ship for their honeymoon in 1973. Following their royal wedding at Westminster Abbey, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter and her new husband travelled to Scotland to board the ship, which, despite being 412 feet long, only has bedrooms with single beds.
Unique sleeping arrangements
© Tim GrahamNoting the fact that Anne’s parents, the late Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, had separate bedrooms on board, the website adds: “Like all cabins on Britannia their bedrooms were furnished with only single beds, which presented challenges when the Yacht was used for honeymoons.
“When Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips were touring the West Indies, in 1973, after their wedding, they are reported to have had their twin beds lashed together.”
Anne was not the only royal to use the Royal Yacht Britannia for her honeymoon. Following suit, her brother then-Prince Charles and his first wife the late Princess Diana also had a romantic break on board in 1981, followed by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986. The former navigated the unusual bed situation by reportedly having “a double bed brought on board for them.”
© Rupert Hartley/David Hartley/ShutterstockAnne and Mark’s daughter Zara Tindall also paid tribute to her parents by hosting her pre-wedding party with Mike on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 2011.
Lavish dinners
Whilst onboard, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips (as well as the royal newlyweds that came after them) would likely have enjoyed hearty Scottish food.
Guests can experience “beautifully prepared dishes bursting with flavour, created with passion by the galley team,” such as the signature Fingal’s smoked salmon, which is smoked on board.
Anne’s second wedding
© GettyAnne and Mark split in 1989 and divorced in 1992, shortly before she tied the knot with her second husband Timothy in a low-key ceremony in Scotland.
Just 30 guests witnessed the ceremony at Crathie Kirk church in Aberdeenshire, before the couple embarked on a transatlantic cruise across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to visit the Caribbean and Galapagos Islands.
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