The Press WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1973. Wedding Day

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33382, 14 November 1973, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1973. Wedding Day

A wedding is a joyful occasion. For the couple concerned it is also an intensely serious and personal matter. No bride and groom ever before faced quite the ordeal —or the audience — which Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise and Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips, Ist Queen's Dragoon Guards, must endure in Westminster Abbey today. Princess Anne, who has accepted her enforced public life in the manner born — and sometimes in the outspoken tradition of her father, the Duke of Edinburgh — should be more than equal to the occasion. In his courtship of the world’s most eligible Princess the commoner, Captain Phillips, has shown that he, too, has a self-possession and a nonchalant charm which accord well with the best traditions of his cavalry regiment But the television audience tonight should spare a thought for the ordeal of a young couple whose most sacred exchange of vows will be watched in considerable detail by a sixth of the world’s population — 500 million people. The marriage of Princess Anne, fourth in line for the oldest surviving monarchy in Europe, is the culmination of a genuine love story. Like her mother, Queen Elizabeth 11, who was married in the Abbey almost exactly 27 years ago, the Princess has the opportunity to spend her life with the man of her choice; hers has been no carefully arranged matching of dynasties for political advantage as many of her ancestors’ marriages were. Much has been made of the couple’s common love of horses — surely the most aristocratic of English beasts — and of the gradual growth of their relationship during four years of meetings in the pursuit of this interest. Both have demonstrated in their actions and in recent careful public statements that they are well aware of the difficulties ahead, far in excess of those faced by most newly-weds. Princess Anne is about to add to her demanding Royal existence the uncertainties of marriage to a serving Army officer. Captain Phillips might be said, by cynics, to have assured his military’ career. He has done so at the price of a public intrusion into his life which few people would seek. The changing place of the British Monarchy, even in the concern of its most ardent supporters, is measured by the attention which has been given to arrangements for the world-wide television transmission of the marriage ceremony. But to Princess Anne and Captain Phillips this is not simply a time when they will delight millions of viewers in a “ live ” version of a Disneyland “ spectacular If Royal nuptials are important enough to be stared at, even 12,000 miles away, viewers might also spare a passing good wish, and even a prayer, for a young couple who have to accept an almost intolerable hubbub surrounding the most important and private event of their lives.