It’s been a right royal family affair for the Windsors this week as almost every senior member stepped out for Royal Ascot, at least once.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was joined by her sons Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, along with her grandchildren Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Tindall, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, but it was Princess Anne – the Queen’s only daughter – who had royal fans chattering most.
WATCH this video to see Queen Elizabeth arriving at Ascot Racecourse!
Anne – officially known as the Princess Royal – is an avid horse racing aficionado and regularly attends equestrian events, but on Wednesday the Princess raised some eyebrows by enjoying the spectacle alongside her former flame, Andrew Parker-Bowles.
Andrew is the ex-husband of Prince Charles‘ second wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, but New Idea’s royal commentator Angela Mollard reveals the cavalry officer also embarked on a “torrid affair” with Anne in the 1970s.
Speaking to New Idea’s podcast The Royals in March, Ms Mollard said it was “well known” that Andrew enjoyed the company of multiple women.
“When Charles and Camilla reignited their relationship some years into his marriage to Princess Diana, he was forever known as the man who laid his wife down for the country,” she said.
“This is really funny – Princess Anne, who we always think is the grumpy one with the bun… she had an affair with Andrew Parker-Bowles.”
Ms Mollard further explained the two had remained friends thanks to their shared passion for horses, and when they meet each year at Royal Ascot they “get on really well”.
Express.co.uk quoted royal author Penny Junor as supporting Ms Mollard’s claim, writing in her biography on Camilla: “To the Duchess’ fury, Andrew was also seeing Princess Anne, Charles’ feisty younger sister.”
Camilla married Andrew in 1973, and went on to have two children together: Tom and Laura.
The same year, Princess Anne wed Captain Mark Phillips and soon welcomed son Peter and daughter Zara, the Queen’s eldest grandchildren.
Anne and Mark’s marriage ended in divorce in April 1992.
Since December 1992, the Princess Royal has been happily married to Timothy Laurence.
