‘Marital problems’
NZPA London Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on an Australian newspaper report citing rumours that Princess Anne is having marital problems With her husband, Captain Mark Phillips. An article in the Sydney “Sunday Telegraph,” owned by the press tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, quoted unidentified Royal sources as saying that rumours were spreading that the eight-year marriage was “heading for the rocks.” The newspaper asserted that, according to reports, the Queen had already spoken to her daughter and son-in-law of their alleged difficulties. It said Captain Phillips was taking a private trip to Australia next month to “think things over." The “Telegraph” article said: “It is thought that the
Queen ... is believed to be particularly upset by one (report) claiming a close relationship between her son-in-law and a television personality.” The London "Sunday Express,” which reproduced extracts of the Sydney paper’s article, disclosed that Captain Phillips was collaborating with the former British Broadcasting Corporation television presenter, Angela Rippon, on a book about horses, a subject of mutual interest. It said she had been a guest of the Royal couple in the past at their home, Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire. The "Sunday Express” said that Captain Phillips was going to Australia to ride in and promote equestrianism and to appear on a television chat show.
The Sydney newspaper quoted a Buckingham Palace spokesman as saying Princess Anne was not accompanying her husband because of other official duties and denying the alleged rumours of an impending breakdown in the marriage as “quite unfounded.” The newspaper asserted, however, that the denial was almost identical to that issued by the Palace before Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon ended their marriage in 1976. A Buckingham Palace spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said in London: “I do not wish to comment on any of it.” Princess Anne married Captain Phillips in 1973. They have two children, Peter, aged three, and daughter, Zara, born on May 15 this year.
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Press, 14 September 1981, Page 6
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324‘Marital problems’ Press, 14 September 1981, Page 6
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