Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral: Everything We Know

On March 20, 1974, Princess Anne was astir kidnapped.

The lone girl of the late Queen Elizabeth II and late Prince Philip was connected her mode to Buckingham Palace with her then-husband Mark Phillips after a movie screening erstwhile their maroon Rolls Royce was waylaid connected the Mall by a achromatic Ford Escort.

Anne's Scotland Yard-issued bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton, got retired of the car and was changeable successful the enarthrosis by Ian Ball, a 26-year-old unemployed laborer from northbound London. Beaton fired backmost erstwhile but past his weapon jammed. Ball approached the Rolls and ordered Anne to get out—or he'd shoot.

"Bloody likely," the 23-year-old princess retorted.

Ball ended up shooting chauffeur Alexander Callendar successful the thorax and Beaton, who managed to get backmost into the car to shield the royal couple, was deed again successful the hand. Ball grabbed Anne by the limb and Phillips—"I was frightened, I won't mind admitting it," helium aboriginal said—held onto her by the waist. Her formal was ripped down the backmost successful the struggle. 

She craftily thought that mightiness get Ball to wantonness his presumption and arsenic helium ran toward the different broadside of the car, she got backmost successful and closed the door. Russell managed to onshore a punch to Ball's face, aft which helium took disconnected running. Detective Constable Peter Edmonds caught up to Ball and tackled him successful St. James' Park.

Days later, the Marxist-Leninist Activist Revolutionary Movement sent a missive to authorities taking recognition for Ball's brazen actions, but Scotland Yard determined the kidnapping effort was the enactment of 1 individual—albeit a prepared one. 

In the car, rented nether an assumed name, Ball had stashed Valium, 2 pairs of handcuffs and a ransom enactment addressed to the queen demanding £2 million. Ball pleaded blameworthy to attempted execution and kidnapping and was remanded to a intelligence wellness facility. 

All of the wounded men survived and each was honored by the Queen that September. Russell recalled getting the George Medal from Her Majesty, telling the Eastern Daily Press in 2006 that the monarch told him, "'the medal is from the queen of England, the convey you is from Anne's mother.'"

Later, Anne recalling her speech with Ball, told Michael Parkinson in the 1980s, "We had a benignant of treatment astir wherever oregon wherever not we were going to go. Well, helium said I had to spell with him—I can't retrieve why...I said I didn't deliberation I wanted to go. I was scrupulously polite, 'cause I thought, silly to beryllium excessively rude astatine that stage."

The assemblage was successful stitches.

"And we had a reasonably low-key treatment astir the information that I wasn't going to spell anywhere, and wouldn't it beryllium overmuch amended if helium went distant and we'd each hide astir it," Anne continued, earlier asking Phillips, "It got somewhat rougher, didn't it, astatine 1 stage?"

"I mean, nationalist figures person ever been successful information to immoderate degree..." the ever-unflappable Anne continued. Though myriad threats were directed astatine the royal household implicit the years, she mused, "perhaps your top information is inactive the lone seed lawsuit who has conscionable got capable to enactment it together. But it would beryllium just to accidental that if anybody was earnestly intent connected wiping 1 out, it would beryllium precise casual to do."

The party enactment soon aft the onslaught was that the royal household "had nary volition of surviving successful slug impervious cages," slightest of each Anne, who resumed her accustomed regular the adjacent day.

Anne besides famously doesn't endure fools oregon overextend herself beyond the still-impressive level of grace and courtesy that was bred into her earlier she was aged capable to notice. Long agone dubbed "her royal rudeness" by the finicky and sometimes fragile section press, she isn't 1 to suffer slumber implicit her Twitter mentions.

Not surprisingly, Erin Doherty, who played 1960s-era Anne connected the 3rd play of The Crown, became rather enamored with the acerbic royal portion researching the role.

"I don't deliberation she's trying to beryllium mean," the British actress told Vanity Fair. "She's conscionable benignant of like, 'No, I'm going to archer you what I truly deliberation of this and you're going to person to grip it. Because I'm not going to lie.' I emotion that astir her."

Season 3 picked up the Windsors' story in 1964, with a teenage Anne already needing to make the suit of armor she would request to march into the existential conflict that was (and inactive is) her regular beingness arsenic a full-time royal.

"What fascinated maine and shocked maine the astir astir Anne is that she was enactment nether truthful overmuch scrutiny—in peculiar astir her physically erstwhile she was a teenager," Doherty said. "Because she's successful the royal family, everyone conscionable thinks they're allowed to comment. She would've been this truly young, fragile teen and radical would constitute things successful the paper astir her being frumpy. That amazed me—that she managed to spell done that astatine specified a young property and inactive travel retired truly determined to beryllium honorable and unfastened with people."

Speaking astir Princess Anne's guarded nature, Doherty explained, "I deliberation that's wherever the armor came from—because she was taxable to this pressurized situation of radical commenting connected her."

The steely resoluteness that has defined the monarchy for generations positively courses through the Princess Royal, who contempt having her fortunes inextricably tied to her storied heritage has managed to unrecorded beingness mostly connected her ain terms, lone seed cases—or nationalist opinion—be damned.

So it's nary wonderment she's ever been 1 of the astir fashionable members of the family.

In 1952, Elizabeth became queen erstwhile her father, King George VI, died astatine the property of 56. The pursuing year, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip embarked connected a astir seven-month-long circuit of the commonwealth, again without their children—who were famously greeted with handshakes upon their parents' return.

Charles enjoyed a peculiar enslaved with his bold, assured sister, who was 8 years older than their next-youngest brother, Prince Andrew. Prince Edward, the babe of the family, was calved successful 1964, and the then-Prince of Wales was already disconnected astatine boarding school. As a child, the sensitive, artistically inclined Charles felt the value of his parents' predominant absences, but if Anne ever felt similarly, she's not saying.

"Her predecessors had traveled enormously, that was the expectation," Anne pragmatically summed up her mother's committedness to the crown successful an interrogation for the BBC's 2018 special The Queen: Her Commonwealth Story. "And they'd been distant for precise agelong times and that again was portion of the expectation...And of people it was made worse by her begetter dying truthful aboriginal connected successful her vocation that she didn't person the enactment truly to walk much clip astatine home."

The stoic princess, who was speedy to support their parent erstwhile Charles told an interviewer successful the 1990s that the queen was a distant parent—it "just beggars belief," Anne fired back—was much similar their begetter than Charles was, and Philip appreciated his daughter's athleticism, fearlessness and dry wit.

But portion their temperaments differed, Anne was supportive of Charles, attending his plays astatine boarding schoolhouse and, erstwhile they were older, hitting the planetary circuit with him to correspond Britain, including a travel to Washington, D.C., successful 1970 (during which President Richard Nixon tried to acceptable the prince up with his girl Tricia Nixon). Anne besides gave her large member riding lessons when, arsenic an adult, helium wanted to get implicit his fearfulness of jumping truthful helium could articulation successful accepted foxhunts.

Anne shared a peculiar emotion of horses with the queen, a emotion that she later passed connected to her ain daughter. But the Princess Royal adjacent forewent assemblage successful favour of pursuing her equestrian vocation and won the European Eventing Championship successful 1971, aft which she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Anne met champion rider Mark Phillips, past a lieutenant successful the British Army, during the 1968 Summer Olympics successful Mexico and they bonded instantly, traveling to events unneurotic each implicit England. He won a golden medal successful three-day eventing astatine the Munich Games successful 1972 and they got engaged successful April 1973, aft some competing successful the equine trials astatine Badminton. Their betrothal was formally announced on May 29, 1973, and Anne's parents were said to beryllium "delighted."

But not everyone was thrilled.

"I tin spot I shall person to find myself a woman beauteous rapidly, different I shall get near down and consciousness precise miserable," Charles wrote to a person upon proceeding the news, per royal adept Sally Bedell Smith's 2017 biography Prince Charles. However, his sister's engagement wasn't the lone 1 plaguing the bachelor.

Four months earlier Anne got married on Nov. 14, 1974 (Charles' birthday), his charming former girlfriend Camilla Shand married Andrew Parker-Bowles. The dashing British Army serviceman had antecedently dated Anne and, remaining friends, Anne was successful the beforehand enactment on with the Queen Mother astatine Andrew and Camilla's July 4 wedding.

Not being capable to foretell the future, Charles felt arsenic if he was losing two of the astir important relationships successful his life.

A record 500 cardinal radical watched connected TV arsenic Anne joined Phillips successful beforehand of astir 2,000 guests. More than 10,000 spectators camped retired on the procession way betwixt Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey to get a glimpse of the couple. They chanted "We privation Anne!" and sang "Happy Birthday" for Charles. The bride wore a Tudor-style gown by Maureen Baker. To spell with her sapphire and diamond engagement ring, her wedding set was crafted from the aforesaid nugget of Welsh golden that supplied rings for the Queen Mother, the queen and Princess Margaret and, later, would bash the aforesaid for Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

The queen talented the newlyweds Gatcombe Park, a state property successful Gloucester that remains Anne's main residence to this day, and they divided their clip betwixt that home, Anne's bachelorette flat astatine Buckingham Palace and Phillips' subject posting astatine Sandhurst.

Perhaps contrary to expectations astatine the time, the mates didn't acceptable astir to person children close away. Riding her equine Doublet, Anne won metallic medals successful some idiosyncratic and squad disciplines at the 1975 European Eventing Championship, and she competed successful the 1976 Summer Olympics successful Montreal, becoming the archetypal subordinate of the British royal household to beryllium successful the Olympics. She recalled seeing a "sea of hats" astatine the Opening Ceremony.

On the 2nd time of the three-day eventing, Anne fell disconnected her horse—Goodwill, from the queen's stable—and suffered a concussion. She got up again to leap the adjacent day, but she matter-of-factly said aboriginal that she didn't retrieve overmuch of it, which, she called "irritating." 

"My begetter went backmost to look afterward and helium recovered 4 immense holes about three strides retired from the fence," she told the BBC successful 2011. "What he'd done is [Goodwill] got bogged, basically...At slightest we landed the close mode up, due to the fact that that's the benignant of autumn that does a batch of damage."

Despite being highly competitive, Anne insisted that being an Olympian astatine all, and finishing the event, was perfectly satisfying.

Anne and Phillips' archetypal child, son Peter Phillips, was calved connected Nov. 15, 1977, and daughter Zara Phillips arrived connected May 15, 1981—another engaged twelvemonth for the royal family. 

Diana and Anne couldn't person been much different. The precocious Princess of Wales could clasp her ain connected a brace of skis, but Anne was a no-nonsense outdoorswoman who didn't attraction astir apparel (ahead of her time, she's been known to recycle decades-old ensembles) oregon the frou-frou trappings of royal life, keeping a spare unit and not fretting implicit mud tracks successful the kitchen. Anne's favourite crockery arsenic a teen was accepted food and chips and these days she's partial to deviled pheasant. She reads Horse and Hound religiously. She drinks java each time and enjoys a martini astatine night.

"If it doesn't fart oregon devour hay, past she isn't interested," Prince Philip erstwhile said of his daughter. (After skipping a luncheon that was connected her itinerary during a packed time of engagements this spring, Anne told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl, "I deliberation during the day, eating's not truly an issue.")

It is erstwhile she talks astir riding that her enthusiasm cracks done her unimpressed facade. "Good question and however agelong person you got?" she replied erstwhile a BBC interviewer asked astir the magic of three-day eventing, which entails dressage, a cross-country thrust and show-jumping.

"It was based connected a humanities subject position that was based connected having a equine that was obedient, well-trained, brave capable to transverse immoderate portion of state that they were asked to cross," Anne explained, "but besides acceptable capable to combat the adjacent day."

Sounds similar an lawsuit the royals would like.

Anne loaned her member the Shetland pony that Prince William used for his archetypal riding lessons and 1 of her ladies-in-waiting, Alexandra "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke, became a nanny for William and Prince Harry (and is present godmother to Harry's son, Archie). But by the time Harry was calved successful 1984, the deficiency of a narration betwixt Diana and her sister-in-law was apparent. Anne, rumored to beryllium upset that she wasn't named Harry's godmother, did not be her younger nephew's christening.

The Palace denied that Anne's lack was owed to thing different than a erstwhile engagement. But according to James Whitaker's Diana v. Charles, Diana reacted to the proposition of Anne arsenic godmother with, "It conscionable don't similar her. She whitethorn beryllium fantastic doing each the foundation enactment for Save the Children and others, but I tin bash it arsenic well." Whitaker wrote that determination was "no emotion lost" betwixt them, and Anne called her sister-in-law "the Dope."

Also unlike Diana, Anne had nary especial tendency to beryllium beloved and didn't tribunal the media's attention, prompting the moniker of "her royal rudeness."

According to Princess Diana biographer Tina Brown, erstwhile Anne was introduced to Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair told the princess to telephone her Cherie, to which Anne replied, "Actually, let's not spell that way. Let's instrumentality to Mrs. Blair, shall we?"

Anne precise visibly (and sometimes audibly) had small patience for lengthy photograph opportunities oregon different pomp amid the circumstance. To this time she doesn't halt to shingle hands, explaining successful the ITV documentary Queen of the World that it was against protocol backmost successful the time erstwhile the household started doing walkabouts (rather than conscionable waving from passing cars) successful oregon astir 1970.

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"The mentation was that you couldn't shingle hands with everybody, truthful don't start," she said with a smile. "So I benignant of instrumentality with that, but I noticed others don't. It's not for maine to accidental that it's wrong, but the archetypal conception was that it was patently absurd to commencement shaking hands."

And the walkabouts themselves were bothersome capable for her.

"We hated them," Anne—who successful the 1970s was overheard lamenting "this bloody wind" (basically dropping an F-bomb) during 1 specified outing successful Australia—said successful The Queen: Her Commonwealth Story. "I mean, tin you ideate arsenic teenagers? It's hardly the benignant of happening you would unpaid to do. I mean it gets easier but, tin you imagine? I mean however galore radical bask walking into a country afloat of radical that you've ne'er met before? And past effort a street. I don't deliberation galore youngsters would really unpaid to bash that."

Anne besides has nary occupation with the no-selfie rule—and you amended enactment your telephone down if you privation a fewer words with the princess.

"Phones are atrocious enough, but the iPads—you can't adjacent spot their heads," she chided the chronic picture-takers she inevitably sees astatine events successful the 2018 HBO documentary Queen of the World. "No thought who you're talking to."

If idiosyncratic approaches to speech with telephone successful hand, Anne says, "I either don't bother, oregon conscionable say, 'Look, if you privation to ask, I suggest you enactment that down. It is weird. People don't judge they've experienced the lawsuit unless they've taken a photograph."

But contempt what tin travel disconnected arsenic a devil-may-care attitude, Anne has been ragingly accordant successful her committedness to the crown. Asked by the BBC successful 2010, erstwhile she turned 60, if she had immoderate plans to dilatory down, she replied, "Look astatine the members of my household who are considerably older than maine and archer maine whether you deliberation they person acceptable an illustration which suggests that I might. Unlikely."

And she's been the busiest royal bee of them all, logging 640 authoritative engagements in 2016, much than Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton combined. In 2017 her 541 engagements were hardly 2nd to Charles' 550, the then-Prince of Wales having the value of future-king expectations progressively upon him—but Anne topped 'em each again successful 2018 with 518 engagements to Charles' 507 amid an overall uptick successful royal activity. Charles surged up again past twelvemonth with 550 appearances, but the 2 of them, on with member Edward, stay the astir disposable members of the household since the queen, who died astatine property 96 Sept. 8, started scaling back.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the full household down in 2020, but Anne made virtual appearances from location and as soon arsenic in-person engagements were deemed harmless again, retired she went.

"It's not conscionable about, Can I get a tick successful the container for doing this? No, it's astir serving…. It comes from an illustration from some my parents' mode of moving and wherever they saw their relation being," Anne explained to Vanity Fair. "I mean, my begetter served. It was a much nonstop signifier of service, I accidental you could argue. And the queen's has been a lifelong work successful a somewhat antithetic way, but they some person that position of work which is astir moving with people."

She doesn't instrumentality the country property she's called location for the past 45-plus years for granted, either. "It's truly bully to travel backmost and conscionable beryllium yourself successful an country similar this," she told Countryfile about Gatcombe, which is simply a moving farm. "Being capable to instrumentality connected a spot similar this—for me, I've got to marque it work. This is not thing that comes free, this has got to wage its way, different I can't enactment here."

She is the patron of galore charities and organizations, similar the remainder of the royals, but she has notably been president of Save the Children since 1970 and president of Riding for the Disabled since 1985.

Asked if becoming a parent had influenced her advocacy, Anne said successful a 1983 interview, "Yes, but I would besides punctual you that I took connected the money agelong earlier I adjacent thought astir getting married...Having my ain children I don't deliberation has made that overmuch difference. I whitethorn recognize their problems a spot amended than I did before." 

She was besides asked if, having seen deprivation successful the processing world, did she worry about what benignant of satellite her ain children would turn up in?

"In the alleged developed world?" she replied wryly.

Her ain children at slightest grew up successful a precise evolved world, for a mates of royals. Breaking with tradition, Anne—the archetypal pistillate successful the household to springiness commencement successful a infirmary alternatively of astatine home—chose to not springiness lad Peter and Zara royal titles, figuring they'd person a amended changeable astatine normality if they were conscionable Peter and conscionable Zara, nary prince oregon princess, nary HRH (or HRR, similar their mum).

"I deliberation it was astir apt easier for them, and I deliberation astir radical would reason that determination are downsides to having titles," Anne explained the prime successful little to Vanity Fair. "So I deliberation that was astir apt the close happening to do."

Like mean kids, Peter and Zara would get grounded if they ran afoul of their parents, and allowances would beryllium withheld. "I'm precise fortunate that some my parents decided to not usage the rubric and we grew up and did each the things that gave america the accidental to do," Zara told The Times successful 2015.

Anne joined Laurence three months aft her divorcement was finalized, successful a small church ceremonial successful Scotland. Zara was her bridesmaid. The queen and Philip were there, arsenic was the Queen Mother. Prince Edward, inactive a bachelor astatine the time, was the lone member who attended, the wedding occurring days aft Charles and Diana announced their separation. Diana sent her champion wishes to the newlyweds.

Like Phillips earlier him, Laurence didn't instrumentality a royal title, but helium was knighted by the queen successful 2011, and he's inactive mixing Anne's nightly martinis. (And it's not arsenic if she pinches each her pennies. The mates sail the Scottish Isles each summertime aboard their £500,000 yacht, Ballochbuie.)

Anne's children are besides precise adjacent to William and Harry, who enjoy the institution of their older, refreshingly unaffected cousins. When Diana died successful 1997, Anne particularly wanted to guarantee that 12-year-old Harry had each the household enactment helium needed. She called on Peter and Zara to support him company at Balmoral and besides spent clip with him herself, riding and rambling successful the woods.

Peter played rugby astatine Exeter and has worked successful sports management, hospitality and finance. He had a fewer relationships before marrying woman Autumn successful 2008. (Recently separated, they inactive unrecorded astatine Gatcombe with their daughters, Savannah and Isla. "We had a small speech astir it successful the car, but she conscionable rises supra it," Anne's lady-in-waiting told Vanity Fair, and that was each they had to accidental astir it.)

Zara besides went to Exeter, wherever she studied physiotherapy, and successful 2003 secured her archetypal riding sponsorship.

Though Anne was often reported to beryllium annoyed by Zara's eventual husband Mike Tindall's headline-grabbing antics, usually involving his behaviour astatine bars oregon connected the rugby pitch, the princess and her son-in-law person since looked heavy arsenic thieves retired successful public, peculiarly astatine sporting events.

When Zara called her parent to archer her that Tindall had proposed, Anne asked if helium was going to yet get his perennially breached chemoreceptor fixed. 

"She's precise knowledgeable astir the game," Tindall, who captained England's rugby team, said astir his then-future mother-in-law successful 2011. "She astir apt knows much astir it than me...We speech astir rugby and the princess royal follows my club, Gloucester, arsenic well. But she is passionate astir Scottish rugby, truthful I'm definite she'll beryllium delighted if they enactment 1 implicit us."

With some of her children and their families surviving astatine Gatcombe, Anne is present a hands-on grandma to Savannah, Isla and Zara's kids Mia, Lena and Lucas.

"I look astatine her and conscionable deliberation if I was going to beryllium a mother, that's what I would privation to beryllium like," Zara said successful a 2010 BBC peculiar successful grant of her mother's 60th birthday. "I would similar to beryllium arsenic bully a parent arsenic she has been to us."

Said Tindall, "Her proposal mostly astir beingness has been invaluable. Whenever we whitethorn person got somewhat supra our presumption she'd beryllium the archetypal 1 to bring america backmost down to earth."

"When she's successful an situation of radical that she knows," helium added, "whether it beryllium her organizations oregon family, friends, she decidedly relaxes a batch much and is large amusive and is ever the 1 laughing the loudest."

"She loves a bully dance," Zara noted. "She is bully connected her feet."

Zara was named BBC Sports Competitor of the Year successful 2006, 35 years aft her parent was likewise honored, and competed successful the 2012 Summer Olympics successful London, where she had the grant of accepting a metallic medal successful squad eventing from the Princess Royal herself.

"Her begetter had been a palmy equestrian and won a batch much medals [than I]," Anne told Vanity Fair, "so you bash somewhat wonderment if having 2 parents who've been successful that concern helped. Zara was ever a earthy and it was truly a question of whether she felt that was thing she truly wanted to do, and she did and she was precise thorough and applied herself to it. So she was rather rightly precise successful."

All of the grandkids emotion horses, too, and Anne quipped, "Certainly erstwhile they started their riding lives I was the other hand."

(Originally published Oct. 1, 2018, astatine 3 a.m. PT; updated Dec. 4, 2019, astatine 9:40 a.m. PT)