Tim Laurence

Vice-Admiral Timothy James Hamilton Laurence CB MVO ADC(P) CSM (born 1 March 1955) is the second husband of The Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. Laurence was Equerry to The Queen from 1986 to 1989. He was born in Camberwell, South London, 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 at Sevenoaks School, Kent, and the University of Durham on a Naval Scholarship, where he received a BSc upper 2nd class honours degree in geography. 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 college cricket team. He was made a midshipman 1 January 1973, and acting sub-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", a Plymouth-based frigate. He was promoted to lieutenant 10 months early, on 1 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, as Equerry to Her Majesty The Queen. He was promoted to commander on 31 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. On 16 May 1994 he was appointed the first Military Assistant to the Secretary of State for Defence (Malcolm Rifkind), to provide military advice in his private office.

Laurence was promoted to captain on 30 June 1995, and until 1996 was in command of the frigate HMS "Cumberland". In May 1996 the ship was back from the Adriatic, where HMS "Cumberland" served in the NATO-led IFOR. On 27 August 1996 Laurence took command of the frigate HMS "Montrose", and was captain of Plymouth-based F6, a squadron of five frigates. Until October 1996 the ship was in the South Atlantic, on Falkland Islands patrol.

From 15 July 1997 Laurence was again in the Ministry of Defence, London, as part of the 1998 Strategic 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 the Joint Services Command and Staff College as a Commodore, as Assistant Commandant (Navy), effective 15 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 made Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Resources and Plans) July 2004. On 30 April 2007 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral, and made Chief Executive of Defence 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 a Church of Scotland ceremony at Crathie 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 in Gloucestershire, after her divorce, but when they first married she and Laurence leased as their London residence a flat in the Dolphin Square complex in Westminster. This experiment was later ended and they returned to apartments in Buckingham Palace.

Honours

* MVO: Member of the Royal Victorian Order, "1989"
* Campaign Service Medal with the Northern 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