Hard-working Royal. The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne was born in Clarence House in London eighteen months before her mother acceded to the throne. Initially she was privately educated but was sent to Benenden School in Kent in 1963 at the age of 13.
An enthusiastic and talented horsewoman, Anne won a gold medal at the European Eventing Championships in 1971 and became the first Royal to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Five years later, as part of the British Equestrian team in Montreal, she became the first member of the British Royal Family to compete at an Olympic Games. She was appointed President of the British Olympic Association in 1983. Subsequently, she has attended eighteen Olympic Games, as an athlete or in her role as a member of the International Olympic Committee.
Anne is noted for her hard work, her patronage of more than 300 organisations, and undertaking almost 500 engagements annually. She was created Princess Royal in 1987 and maintains strong connections with Scotland. She sent both her children, Peter and Zara Phillips, to Gordonstoun School, and married for the second time at Crathie Kirk on Royal Deeside in 1992. With her husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, she is an enthusiastic sailor and the couple keep their yacht at Ardfern on Loch Craignish.
She has served twice as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In 2011 Anne succeeded her father, the Duke of Edinburgh, to become Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. She also serves as Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands. She is a Vice President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and has received the Society's Livingtone Medal. She has been Patron of Scottish Rugby Union since 1986 and became one of the first female honorary members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews in 2015.
In 2020, Princess Anne received an honorary degree in recognition of her charity work from the University of Aberdeen, presented by her sister-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
