Anne’s televised wedding in 1973 was reportedly watched by 500 million people around the globe. She is believed to have first met keen equestrian Mark Phillips in 1968, and they hit it off over their shared love of horses. The couple had two children, Peter and Zara, but their relationship crumbled following tales of infidelity from both parties and they split in 1989, officially divorcing in 1992.

Writing in his 2007 biography, ‘Charles: The man who will be King’, author Howard Hodgson revealed how the Prince of Wales truly felt about his younger sister’s decision to marry.

Mr Hodgson wrote: “[Charles] was still reeling from [Camilla’s] engagement when in May he received a letter from his father informing him that his sister Princess Anne, was to marry an army captain called Mark Phillips.”

The heir was in Antigua to train with the Royal Navy when he received the news.

He had already been stunned to hear that Camilla Shand, who he had been dating prior to his departure, was to marry Andrew Parker Bowles.

Andrew was believed to have had a fling with Anne too — so the news of both engagements came as a “double shock” to the heir.

The author explained: “Not only was Charles convinced that Anne was making a dreadful mistake, but it appeared to him that while the Royal Navy held him captive in the Caribbean, everything that was dear to him at home was being taken away from him and there wasn’t a thing that he could do about it.

“Although he didn’t enjoy a close relationship with either of his parents, he had come to see his family as something very dear and something to which he had been denied close access for long periods of time since the age of seven.”

Mr Hodgson pointed out how Anne had become “a close confidante” for Charles as well as a person “with whom he could play the fool”.

News of her marriage meant that he would no longer “have first call on her affection”.

Mr Hodgson continued: “Initially he found this very hard to accept and it took him several days to be able to contemplate her marriage without a sense of despair.”

In the 2019 documentary, ‘The Royal Family: Affairs and Infidelities’, royal experts explained what drew the couple together, and speculated as to why their romance collapsed.

Editor of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward claimed: “Mark Phillips is a very good looking man, he looked like an Adonis on a horse, and Anne fell in love with him.

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“But I don’t know that Anne really had that much in common with her husband.

“He was lovely when he was on a horse, but probably a bit dull when he wasn’t.”

Daily Mail editor Richard Kay also told the documentary: “The Royal Family itself were not terribly kind to Mark Phillips.

“It was said to me that Prince Charles christened his brother-in-law ‘Fog’ because he was dense and thick — not much going on.”

Another royal insider, former butler Paul Burrell, also claimed that Anne’s younger brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Edward would joke about how often “Foggy” turned every conversation into a chat about horses.

However, it is believed both Mr Phillips and Anne went on to have extra-marital affairs throughout their relationship.

Anne was even linked to one of the Queen’s equerry, Commander Timothy Laurence, whom she went on to marry in 1992.

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