Mark Anthony Peter Phillips,
CVO,
ADC(P) (born 22 September 1948) is a former
Olympic gold-medal-winning horseman and first husband of
Anne, Princess Royal. He is the son of Major Peter William Garside Phillips (deceased in September 1998) and Anne Patricia Phillips (née Tiarks) (deceased in July 1988).
Career
Education
Mark Phillips was educated at
Stouts Hill Preparatory School and
Marlborough College, whence he joined the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Army
Upon passing out from Sandhurst, Phillips was commissioned into
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards in 1969.
Equestrian career
In 1972, he was a member of the
British three-day event team, which won the gold medal at the
Munich Olympics. He won the
Badminton Horse Trials in 1971 and 1972 riding
Great Ovation, in 1974 on
Colombus, and in 1981 on Lincoln.
In 1998, Phillips designed the cross-country venue for the
Red Hills Horse Trials, a qualifying event for the
Olympics located in
Tallahassee, Florida,
USA.
It was through his equestrian activities that he met
HRH The Princess Anne, only daughter of
HM Queen Elizabeth II and
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
He is now a regular columnist in
Horse & Hound magazine. He also remains a leading figure in British equestrian circles and serves as
Chef d'Equipe of the
United States Eventing Team.
First marriage
Phillips married Princess Anne on 14 November 1973, at
Westminster Abbey, and had two children:
The Queen is believed to have offered him a
peerage on his wedding day, which he turned down. This may also have been the specific wish of Princess Anne. (As female-line grandchildren of the Sovereign, Princess Anne's children were never eligible for the style "Royal Highness" or the title "Prince/Princess" under the terms of
George V's
letters patent of 1917)
However, rumours of a stormy relationship were rife, and their home life at
Gatcombe Park was the subject of much unwanted media attention throughout their marriage. In 1992, Mark Phillips and the Princess Royal were divorced.
Extra-marital affair
In August 1985 Phillips fathered a daughter, Felicity, as a result of an extramarital affair with New Zealand art teacher Heather Tonkin. Phillips was confirmed as the father as a result of
DNA testing during a paternity suit in 1991.
Second marriage
On 1 February 1997, he married
Sandy Pflueger, a successful American
dressage rider – the couple have a daughter named Stephanie, born October 2, 1997.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Honours
Military
Arms
Footnotes
Sources
