- Tim Laurence
Vice-Admiral Timothy James Hamilton Laurence CB MVO ADC(P) CSM (born1 March 1955 ) is the second husband of The Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. Laurence wasEquerry to The Queen from 1986 to 1989. He was born inCamberwell , SouthLondon , the son of Guy Stewart Laurence (a salesman for a marine-engine manufacturer) and Barbara Alison Laurence, née Symons.Education
Laurence was educated firstly at
The New Beacon Preparatory School and then atSevenoaks School ,Kent , and theUniversity of Durham on a Naval Scholarship, where he received aBSc upper 2nd classhonours degree ingeography . At university, he edited the student newspaper, "Palatinate", [cite news| first=Stuart|last= Qualtrough|title=People's Prince Will's may go to Durham University|publisher=Sunday Mirror|date =1999-05-23 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19990523/ai_n14489282 |accessdate=2007-08-28] and was captain of his collegecricket team. He was made amidshipman 1 January 1973 , and actingsub-lieutenant 1 January 1975 .Naval career
Upon leaving Durham he completed his initial training at the
Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, and was posted to HMS "Aurora", aPlymouth -basedfrigate . He was promoted tolieutenant 10 months early, on1 March 1977 .In 1978 he was attached to the training establishment HMS "Vernon" and in the next year served on the minesweeper HMS "Pollington".
Laurence served briefly as Navigating Officer of the Royal Yacht HMY "Britannia", and 1980 to 1982 in the same role on the destroyer HMS "Sheffield". He took command of the patrol boat HMS "Cygnet" off
Northern Ireland in 1982, as part of the patrols for IRA gun-runners.After attending HMS "Dryad" for a Principal Warfare Officer course, Laurence was promoted to
lieutenant-commander (1 March 1985 ), and posted to the frigate HMS "Alacrity". In April 1986 he was appointed to his first staff post, asEquerry to Her Majesty The Queen. He was promoted tocommander on31 December 1988 .In October 1989 he was posted to the new frigate HMS "Boxer", and took over as Commanding Officer on
30 January 1990 , at the age of 34.In 1992-1994 Laurence was with the naval staff in the Ministry of Defence,
London . On16 May 1994 he was appointed the firstMilitary Assistant to theSecretary of State for Defence (Malcolm Rifkind ), to provide military advice in his private office.Laurence was promoted to
captain on30 June 1995 , and until 1996 was in command of the frigate HMS "Cumberland". In May 1996 the ship was back from theAdriatic , where HMS "Cumberland" served in theNATO -ledIFOR . On27 August 1996 Laurence took command of the frigate HMS "Montrose", and was captain of Plymouth-based F6, asquadron of five frigates. Until October 1996 the ship was in theSouth Atlantic , onFalkland Islands patrol.From
15 July 1997 Laurence was again in the Ministry of Defence,London , as part of the 1998Strategic Defence Review implementation team.Later career
In 1998 and 1999 Laurence was
Hudson Visiting Fellow ,St Antony's College ,University of Oxford . He was then posted to theJoint Services Command and Staff College as a Commodore, as Assistant Commandant (Navy), effective15 June 1999 .From 2001 to the spring of 2004 he was back at the Ministry of Defence, as Director of Navy Resources and Programmes.
Laurence was promoted to
Rear-Admiral , and madeAssistant Chief of Defence Staff (Resources and Plans) July 2004. On30 April 2007 he was promoted toVice-Admiral , and madeChief Executive ofDefence Estates . [ [http://www.theinternetforum.co.uk/node/2060 Laurence promoted to Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy | The Internet Forum ] ]Marriage
He met Princess Anne when he served as an
Equerry to The Queen, when her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips broke down. Commander Laurence and Anne were married in December 1992 in aChurch of Scotland ceremony atCrathie Parish Church,Ballater , near Balmoral, the Church of Scotland permitting the remarriage of divorced people.He received no
peerage on their marriage. Princess Anne retained her country estate,Gatcombe Park inGloucestershire , after her divorce, but when they first married she and Laurence leased as theirLondon residence a flat in theDolphin Square complex inWestminster . This experiment was later ended and they returned to apartments inBuckingham Palace .Honours
* MVO: Member of the Royal Victorian Order, "1989"
*Campaign Service Medal with theNorthern Ireland bar, "1982"
*Mentioned in Dispatches , "1982"
*Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal , "2002"
* ADC(P):Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, "1 August 2004 "
* CB: Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division), "16 June 2007 "
* CSM: Companion of the Order of the Star of Melanesia, "2005"tyles
* Mr Timothy Laurence (1955–1973)
* Midshipman Timothy Laurence (1973–1975)
* Acting Sub-Lieutenant Timothy Laurence (1975–1977)
* Lieutenant Timothy Laurence (1977–1985)
* Lieutenant-Commander Timothy Laurence (1985–1988)
* Commander Timothy Laurence (1988–1989)
* Commander Timothy Laurence MVO (1989–1995)
* Captain Timothy Laurence MVO (1995–1999)
* Commodore Timothy Laurence MVO (1999–2004)
* Rear-Admiral Timothy Laurence MVO (2004–2004)
* Rear-Admiral Timothy Laurence MVO ADC(P) (2004–2005)
* Rear-Admiral Timothy Laurence MVO ADC(P) CSM (2005–2007)
* Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence CB MVO ADC(P) CSM (2007–)References
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