Ann Windsor

Ball pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping. As of 2019, he was still detained under the Mental Health Act, at Broadmoor Hospital.

In February 2015, the Princess Royal became one of the first female honorary members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

Anne undertakes a number of duties and engagements on behalf of her mother, in support of her role as sovereign of the Commonwealth realms. Kevin S. MacLeod, the Canadian Secretary to the Queen, said of Anne in 2014: “Her credo is, 'Keep me busy. I'm here to work. I'm here to do good things. I'm here to meet as many people as possible'.” It was revealed in December 2017 that the Princess Royal had undertaken the most official engagements that year out of all the royal family, her mother included. Among her royal visits, the Princess has toured Norway, Jamaica, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, and Australia.

Since 2013, the Princess Royal has a personal heraldic flag for use in Canada. It is the Royal Arms of Canada in banner form defaced with a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves, within which is a depiction of an “A” surmounted by a coronet. Above the roundel is a white label of three points, the centre one charged with a red heart and the other two with red crosses.

She was elected Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh effective 31 March 2011, succeeding her father, who stepped down from the role in 2010. Likewise, she accepted in 2011 the roles of President of City and Guilds of London Institute, Master of the Corporation of Trinity House and President of the Royal Society of Arts, also in succession to her father. She is also Patron of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Edinburgh University's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, International Students House, London, Acid Survivors Trust International, Townswomen's Guilds and Citizens Advice.

Her first public engagement was at the opening of an educational and training centre in Shropshire in 1969. Anne travels abroad on behalf of the United Kingdom up to three times a year. She began to undertake overseas visits upon leaving secondary school, and accompanied her parents on a state visit to Austria in the same year. Her first tour of Australia was with her parents in 1970, since which she has returned on numerous occasions to undertake official engagements as a colonel-in-chief of an Australian regiment, or to attend memorials and services, such as the National Memorial Service for victims of the Black Saturday bushfires in Melbourne, Australia, on 22 February 2009. In 1990 she was the first member of the royal family to make an official visit to the Soviet Union when she went there as a guest of President Mikhail Gorbachev and his government.

Anne met Timothy Laurence, a Commander in the Royal Navy, while he was serving on the Royal Yacht Britannia. Their relationship developed in early 1989, three years after he was appointed as an equerry to the Queen. In 1989, the existence of private letters from Laurence to the Princess was revealed by The Sun newspaper. The couple married at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral Castle in Scotland, on 12 December 1992. Approximately 30 guests were invited for the private marriage service. Unlike the Church of England at the time, the Church of Scotland considered marriage to be an ordinance of religion rather than a sacrament and permitted the remarriage of divorced persons under certain circumstances. Anne became the first royal divorcée to remarry since Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

The Princess Royal performs official duties and engagements on behalf of the Queen. She holds patronage within over 300 organisations, including WISE, Riders for Health, and Carers Trust. Her charity work revolves around sport, sciences, people with disabilities, and health in developing countries. She has been associated with Save the Children for over fifty years and has visited a number of their projects; her work resulted in her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

Anne assumed the Presidency of the Fédération Équestre Internationale from 1986 until 1994. On 5 February 1987, she became the first member of the royal family to appear as a contestant on a television quiz-show when she competed on the BBC panel game A Question of Sport.

She was an actress, known for To Have and to Hold (1986), Poirot (1989) and Flower of Evil (1961).

Beaton, Hills, Callender, and McConnell were hospitalised, and recovered from their wounds. For his defence of Princess Anne, Beaton was awarded the George Cross by the Queen, who was visiting Indonesia when the incident occurred; Hills and Russell were awarded the George Medal, and Callender, McConnell, and Edmonds were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. Russell also had his mortgage paid off by the Queen. Anne visited Beaton in hospital and thanked him for his assistance. In 1984, the princess spoke about the event on Parkinson saying she was 'scrupulously polite' to her would-be kidnapper as she thought it would be 'silly to be too rude at that stage'.

The Princess Royal has been referred to as the royal family's “trustiest anchor” and “beacon of good, old-fashioned public service”, having carried out over 20,000 engagements since her eighteenth birthday. In her early adulthood, she was cited as a “royal renegade” with her choices to forego titles for her children despite her status as “spare to the heir” at the time. A young Anne was often described as “aloof” and “haughty” by the media, earning the nickname “her royal rudeness” from members of the press. The Princess spurred controversy for famously telling photographers to “naff off” at the Badminton Horse Trials in 1982. Vanity Fair states that Anne “has a reputation for having inherited her father's famously sharp tongue and waspish wit”. Of early public role, she has stated: “It's not just about, Can I get a tick in the box for doing this? No, it's about serving….It took me probably 10 years before I really felt confident enough to contribute to Save the Children's public debates, because you needed to understand how it works on the ground and that needed a very wide coverage. So my early trips were really important.

Following the retirement of the Queen Mother in 1981, Anne was elected by graduates of the University of London as the Chancellor and has been in the position since 1981. Throughout May 1996, Anne served as Her Majesty's High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and held the post again in 2017. In 2007, she was appointed by the Queen as Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order, a position her grandmother had also held. She is a Royal Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Royal Fellows are members of the Monarchy who are recommended and elected by the Society's Council. The Royal Society has only five Royal Fellows, including the Princess Royal herself, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Kent, and the Duke of Cambridge. She is the Academy of Medical Sciences' first Royal Fellow.

On 20 March 1974 Princess Anne and Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace from a charity event; their Princess IV car was forced to stop on the Mall by a Ford Escort. The driver of the Escort, Ian Ball, jumped out and began firing a pistol. Inspector James Beaton, Anne's personal police officer, responded by exiting the car in order to shield her and to attempt to disarm Ball. However, Beaton's firearm, a Walther PPK, jammed, and he was shot by the assailant, as was Anne's chauffeur, Alex Callender, when he tried to disarm Ball. Brian McConnell, a nearby tabloid journalist, also intervened, and was shot in the chest. Ball approached Anne's car and told her that he intended to kidnap her and hold her for ransom, the sum given by varying sources as £2 million or £3 million, which he claimed he intended to give to the National Health Service. Ball told Anne to get out of the car, to which she replied: “Not bloody likely!”, and reportedly briefly considered hitting Ball.

In 1973, Anne married Captain Mark Phillips, but they separated in 1989 and divorced in 1992. The couple have two children, Zara and Peter Phillips, and four grandchildren. Within months of her divorce, Anne married Commander (now Vice Admiral) Sir Timothy Laurence, whom she had met while he served as her mother's equerry between 1986 and 1989.

For more than five years, she also competed with the British eventing team, with her home-bred horse, Doublet suffering an injury during the 1972 Badminton Horse Trials, and winning a silver medal in both individual and team disciplines in the 1975 European Eventing Championship. The following year, Anne participated in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal as a member of the British team, riding the Queen's horse, Goodwill, in Eventing. Anne suffered a concussion halfway through the course but remounted and finished the event; she has stated she cannot remember making the rest of the jumps. She finished sixth at the Badminton Horse Trials in 1979. In 1985, she rode in a charity horse race at the Epsom Derby, finishing fourth.

Born at Clarence House, Anne was educated at Benenden School and began undertaking royal duties upon adulthood. She became a respected equestrian, winning one gold medal in 1971 and two silver medals in 1975 at the European Eventing Championships. In 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to have competed in the Olympic Games.

In 1970, she briefly had a relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, who later married Camilla Shand. Shand much later married Anne's brother, Prince Charles, as his second wife.

The Princess remains one of Britain's most popular royals. Telegraph Editor Camilla Tominey describes her as a “national treasure”, and states that she is “hailed as one of the great English eccentrics”, whose work ethic contributes to her regard. Tominey states that Anne's public role is a “contradiction of both protocol taskmaster and occasional rule-breaker”. Reportedly, Anne “insists on doing her own make-up and hair” and drives herself to engagements, having pleaded guilty for two separate speeding fines on account of being late. Princess Anne does not shake hands with the public during walkabouts, stating that “the theory was that you couldn't shake hands with everybody, so don't start.” Members of the public have reported observing her “mending fences at Gatcombe” and “queuing up for the Portaloos” at her daughter's horse competitions. Her reputation is also coupled with her advocacy for causes out of the mainstream, such as Wetwheels Foundation's commitment to accessible sailing and her association with the National Lighthouse Museum. On her 60th and 70th birthdays, she was asked by the BBC and Vanity Fair respectively if she would retire, with her denying speculation both times, citing her parents' example as well as her commitment to her royal duties. Anne's public personality has been described as “not suffering fools lightly”, while maintaining a “still-impressive level of grace and courtesy”.

A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company to include the Holy Trinity Brompton Brownie pack, was re-formed in May 1959, specifically so that, as her mother and aunt had done as children, Anne could socialise with girls her own age. The company was active until 1963, when Anne went to boarding school. Anne enrolled at Benenden School in 1963. In 1968, she left school with six GCE O-Levels and two A-Levels. She began to undertake royal engagements in 1969, at the age of 18.

A governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed to look after Anne and was responsible for her early education at Buckingham Palace; Peebles also served as early governess for Anne's older brother, Charles. After the death of George VI in February 1952, Anne's mother ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Given her young age at the time, Anne did not attend the coronation in June 1953.

Anne, Princess Royal, KG, KT, GCVO, GCStJ, QSO, CD (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She is 15th in the line of succession to the British throne and has been Princess Royal since 1987.

Ann Windsor was born on July 10, 1934 in Bromley, Kent, England as Ann Plummer.