Princess Anne

Princess Anne insisted on a separation from her commoner husband Mark Phillips despite his pleas to save their 16-year marriage, newspapers said today. "Princess Anne chose the freedom to lead her own life instead of being trapped in a phony marriage--against the wishes of Capt. Mark Phillips," the Daily Mail said.

Her face is everywhere: on stamps, coins, mugs and book covers. Her likeness has just been reproduced for the 23rd time at Madame Tussauds, London's famous wax museum. More visitors come to gawp at her house than probably any other residence in the world. Yet after reigning over Britain for longer than most of her subjects have been alive, Queen Elizabeth II is the country's "most familiar enigma," in the words of one TV presenter. Yes, the white-haired 86-year-old keeps up a grueling schedule of public appearances that would test someone half her age, especially during this season of celebration of her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years on the throne.

Princess Anne, daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, arrived here Wednesday amid tight security for a two-day visit to Northern Ireland. Irish guerrillas are waging a terrorist campaign to end British rule in the province.

LONDON (AP) — A small town that honored British soldiers killed in Afghanistan as their bodies were returned home received a royal title Sunday for its compassion — the first such honor granted to a town in over 100 years. Princess Anne delivered the Letters Patent — official documents from her mother Queen Elizabeth II — to the town of Wootton Bassett, giving it official permission to change its name to Royal Wootton Bassett. The bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan used to be repatriated to the RAF Lyneham airbase near Wootton Bassett, 85 miles (135 kilometers)

Princess Anne, daughter of a reigning monarch, says she wishes her children had better role models. "I look around and wonder what sort of examples they have to look up to now," the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II told a BBC radio interviewer today. "That worries me. I don't think there are very many. . . . I think their elder generation is to blame for that." Anne, 39, who separated from her husband, Capt.

Princess Anne today became only the second woman to be conferred with honorary membership in Lloyd's of London, the world's leading insurance market. The 39-year-old daughter of Queen Elizabeth II accepted the honor when she opened a visitors' exhibition and a viewers' gallery at Lloyd's headquarters in Lime Street. Queen Mother Elizabeth, the monarch's mother, accepted honorary membership in Lloyd's in 1974.

Queen Elizabeth's daughter Princess Anne became the first senior member of the British royal family convicted of a criminal offense in 350 years, pleading guilty to letting her dog bite two children. Anne was fined 500 pounds, about $790. Her 3-year-old English bull terrier Dotty, who could have faced the death penalty, was spared, provoking criticism from the parents of the victims. The dog must be on a leash in public the rest of its life.

Queen Elizabeth II's daughter faces possible court action after one of her bull terriers allegedly attacked a couple as they strolled in a royal park, the Mail on Sunday reported. The paper quoted a Buckingham Palace spokesperson as saying Princess Anne and her husband had received a court summons. The Mail said nobody was seriously hurt in the July attack, which occurred as Anne and her husband were exercising their dogs in Windsor Great Park, the site of Windsor Castle.

The Olympics have become too big for their own good, according to Princess Anne, one of Britain's two International Olympic Committee members. The princess, president of the British Olympic Assn. and the International Equestrian Federation, said trimming the size of the Games presented the most difficult decisions facing the IOC and other international sports bodies. "The biggest danger to the movement is that it is getting too big in sheer weight of numbers," she said.

Princess Anne and her husband Mark Phillips, who separated in August, 1989, after 15 years of marriage and two children, will divorce in June, 1992, according to a report today in the Daily Mirror. Buckingham Palace refused to comment. The London tabloid attributed its report to an unidentified friend.

A grinning and blushing Prince Harry was given a medal for his service in Afghanistan by his aunt, Princess Anne. The red-haired royal struggled to contain a smile as the princess pinned the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan to his desert fatigues in a ceremony at the Combermere Barracks in Windsor, west of London. Harry, 23, was among 170 members of his unit, the Household Cavalry Regiment, who were decorated for their service in Afghanistan as friends and family looked on. The prince's deployment there was cut short earlier this year after news of his mission became public.

Queen Elizabeth's daughter Princess Anne became the first senior member of the British royal family convicted of a criminal offense in 350 years, pleading guilty to letting her dog bite two children. Anne was fined 500 pounds, about $790. Her 3-year-old English bull terrier Dotty, who could have faced the death penalty, was spared, provoking criticism from the parents of the victims. The dog must be on a leash in public the rest of its life.

Queen Elizabeth II's daughter faces possible court action after one of her bull terriers allegedly attacked a couple as they strolled in a royal park, the Mail on Sunday reported. The paper quoted a Buckingham Palace spokesperson as saying Princess Anne and her husband had received a court summons. The Mail said nobody was seriously hurt in the July attack, which occurred as Anne and her husband were exercising their dogs in Windsor Great Park, the site of Windsor Castle.

An angry Britain went to the races Monday in a national show of defiance against the Irish Republican Army. "We beat them. It was fantastic," said a fan as he left Aintree racetrack in Liverpool after the belated running of the Grand National, the world's premier steeplechase. Prime Minister John Major and Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, joined more than 20,000 fans who came for a single race Monday and were cheered on by millions across the country watching on television.

Princess Anne, the divorced only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, was married in a simple Scottish ceremony Saturday to Cmdr. Timothy J.H. Laurence, a British naval officer. The wedding--which brought some needed cheer to a Royal Family that has gone through what the queen has called a "horrible year"--was a small, private affair, with the world's media kept at a long arm's length.

Buckingham Palace revealed Saturday that Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, will marry again. The groom will be Cmdr. Timothy J.H. Laurence, a naval officer. Never before in British history has a monarch's son, daughter, brother or sister remarried after a divorce.