Call me mister—Mark Phillips refuses title from his mother-in-law

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 17

Call me mister—Mark Phillips refuses title from his mother-in-law

Before Princess Anne’s baby is born in November, a decision must be made about the title to be given to the child who will be fifth in line to the throne. The Queen is adamant that her first grandchild must not be born a plain Master or Miss. But Captain Phillips is refusing a peerage. GILLIAN FRANKS reports . . .

At least three times in the last two months, a junior member of the Defence Ministry staff in London has been whisked by impressive black limousine from his desk in Whitehall to face the Queen, the Prime Minister, and some of their most influential advisers. Every time he was asked: "Will you take a title?'* And every time, according to these close to the royal family, Captain Mark Phillips politely, but firmly, said: “No thank you.

Since it was announced in April that Princess Anne was expecting her first baby, behind-the-scenes pressure to ensure that the child, who will be fifth in line to the throne, does not come into the world as just Master or Miss Phillips, has been mounting relentlessly.

A source close to the royal family told me: ••Mark turned down the offer of an Earldom on his marriage in 1973, explaining to the Queen that he was quite happy with his army rank. He also felt that a title at that stage would be both premature and unnecessary.

“Since then the pressure on him to change his mind has steadily grown, and is now much greater than it was on Angus Ogilvie, the last commoner to marry into the royal family, and who is also believed to have turned down an Earldom.” Just why did Mark Phillips decide to go against the express advice of the Queen, who wanted to

coup - the bestowing of a title on her son-in-law with making Anne the Princess Royal?

“He said, when he first got engaged, that if he were to become a general before he was 30, he wanted to do it by his own c*‘orts,” an army friend recalls. “Mark has always had this thing about achieving things by ability rather than by influence. He can’t see why he should compromise just because he is due to become a father in November.”

It was in March, when Princess Anne became certain she was expecting a baby, that Captain Phillips had his first talks with the Queen and Prince Philip about the possibility of accepting a title. The Garter King at Arms was also present to explain what titles were available.

One suggestion is said to be that Mark should copy Lord Snowdon and create a new title for himself — perhaps Earl of Somerfield, after the west country village in which his parents live. Other possible titles were Earl of Kendal and Marquis of Avondale. But none of them apparently appealed to Captain Phillips.

Unless he can be persuaded to take a peerage within the next few weeks, the Queen is expected to go ahead with contingency plans to give Anne the courtesy title of either Countess or Duchess — Countess of Balmoral and Duchess of Sandringham are present favourites. Depending on which title she was given, her baby would be either a Viscount or Marquis if a boy, or a Lady if a daughter.

Experts point out that this would get over the problem of the Queen having a commoner as a grandchild — an unprecendented situation.

A peerage could pass through the female line only for one generation, so if Princess Anne has a daughter her grandchildren would not inherit the title. If she has a son, however, his sons would inherit it. Duchess of Sussex is ruled out because the Queen is known to have reserved that county for Prince Edward. And Duchess of York is out, too — that Dukedom has been put aside for Prince Andrew.

Although a Buckingham Palace spokesman says that “there are at present no plans to offer Captain

Mark Phillips a title,” observers close to the Royal scene say that the Queen has made her feelings known quite forcefully on the subject.

I was told: “Princess Anne has offered to become a peeress in her own right if this would avert the head-on clash which seems likely. At the same time she fully supports her husband in his wish to stay plain Captain Phillips if that is what he really wants.

“The Princess has always had a powerful dislike of many of the trappings which surround the life of the Royal family.”

Many people close to the Royal family are becoming convinced that the eventual compromise will be a decision to bestow a courtesy title on the baby; other Royal children more distant from the throne have similar titles.

Says Patrick MontagueSmith, editor of “Debrett's Peerage”: “There is no precedent for this, but there is nothing to stop the Queen doing it.” Nor would this prevent Captain Phillips eventually accepting a title when he feels the time is ripe for him to do so.

Royal observers are

quick to point out that the protracted negotiations over Mark Phillips’s title have in no way dimmed the Queen’s affection for her son-in-law. He is one of the few people outside her immediatee family who is able to make the Queen relax; and although he has to call her “Ma’am,” he talks to her as naturally as he talks to his own parents.

It was a mark of the Queen’s affection that recently she made him her personal Aide-de-Camp, a Crivate honour which she estows on serving officers in the Royal family — when she thinks they deserve it. . . In the early days of the marriage it was feared that Mark Phillips might be a little too easy-going to cope with the often head-strong Princess Anne. But he has turned out to be as strong-willed as his wife — particularly over the matter of a title. “Mark cannot be forced into the peerage,” says one expert, “even though the Prime Minister is known to have recommended the conferment of a title. It remains to be seen whether he will resist the combined pressure of Crown and Government, or whether he will give in gracefully.” Certainly a peerage would have one advantage: anyone wanting to write to “Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips and Captain Mark Phillips” certainly needs an extralong envelope. — Features International