Princess Anne lives at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, located within the Cotswolds between the villages of Minchinhampton and Avening. Purchased for her by Queen Elizabeth II in 1976, this private estate serves as her main residence with her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence.
Princess Anne: She lives at Gatcombe Park, a private country home set amidst rolling hills and picturesque countryside between Minchinhampton and Avening.
We are opening the gardens for ticketed guided tours only, from Summer 2025. The restoration of the grounds at Gatcombe will take a decade, and while we hope to be open to the public more generally in the next few years, for now we can only take groups of up to 30 people on a walking route around the estate.
Gatcombe was let during the 1950s and in 1976 was sold to its present (2000), private owner. Gatcombe Park house stands at the centre of the north-west edge of its linear park (c 35ha), between the villages of Minchinhampton and Avening.
Inside Gatcombe Park: The Private Residence of Anne, Princess Royal
Did Princess Anne buy Gatcombe Park?
How did Princess Anne come to own Gatcombe? In 1976, Elizabeth II purchased the 500-acre estate as a private home for her daughter, Princess Anne, following her marriage to Captain Mark Phillips.
Highgrove Gardens are part of the private residence of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Located near the town of Tetbury, discover the striking development of the gardens and the important sustainable principles instilled over the past 40 years.
The estate was divided when the Princess Royal and Mark Phillips were divorced, and today the princess lives at Gatcombe Park with her second husband, Sir Timothy Laurence. Their children Peter and Zara Tindall each had a cottage on the estate until they married.
The late Queen bought the working farm from Lord Butler of Saffron Walden, the former Conservative home secretary who died in 1982, for between £500,000 and £750,000. The figure that would now be worth almost £6 million, although other estimates have suggested the estate could be worth double that.
Starting near Gloucestershire, England, the Box Wood, Rodborough Hill, and Gatcombe Water Loop is a captivating 15 km (approximately 9.3 miles) trail with an elevation gain of around 300 meters (984 feet).
Currently, it is reported that 47-year-old Peter still lives on the estate belonging to his mother, Princess Anne: the glorious Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire.
It was only 21 years later that Mark finally moved out – and here's the real reason why… Mark Phillips left Aston Farm and moved to the US in 2013, but it seems it was only to make way for his daughter Zara Tindall and her family to move in.
Princess Anne has a residence at St James's Palace in London, but she spends most of her time in the country at Gatcombe, where she lives with her husband Timothy Laurence. Anne's daughter, Zara, also lives at Gatcombe with her family—her husband Mike Tindall and their children Mia, Lena, and Lucas.
Queen Anne suffered from chronic, debilitating illnesses throughout her life, primarily severe gout, obesity, and possibly an autoimmune disorder like Lupus (SLE), leading to joint pain, swelling, and limited mobility, eventually requiring a wheelchair and contributing to numerous miscarriages and the early deaths of her 17 children.
Which word did Princess Diana remove from her vows?
Princess Diana famously removed the word "obey" from her wedding vows to Prince Charles in 1981, choosing instead to promise to "love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health," a move that modernized royal tradition and was later followed by her daughters-in-law, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.
What are the best villages to visit in the Cotswolds?
The best Cotswold villages to visit offer a mix of iconic charm, quiet beauty, and history, with top choices including Castle Combe (iconic, picturesque), Bibury ( Arlington Row), the peaceful Slaughters (Lower & Upper), bustling Broadway (shops, art), and historic Chipping Campden (market town, walking). Other favorites are Painswick (yew trees), Bourton-on-the-Water ( River Windrush), and filming location Lacock for movie fans, all known for honey-coloured stone cottages and classic English countryside.
Windsor Castle is legally owned by the British Crown, held by the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, "in right of the Crown," meaning it's a state asset, not personal property, with its profits going to the Treasury for national benefit, though the King lives there and uses it as a royal residence, much like Buckingham Palace. While the monarch holds it for the nation, properties like Windsor Castle are part of the "Occupied Royal Palaces" managed for the country, with the Crown Estate handling other vast properties like Windsor Great Park.
The Prince and Princess made their principal home at Highgrove House near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, with an apartment in Kensington Palace as their London home. They had two sons.
Which royal refused to go to Princess Diana's funeral?
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (then Sophie Rhys-Jones) was the royal who notably skipped Princess Diana's funeral in 1997, not by outright refusal but by a considerate decision supported by the Royal Family, because her strong resemblance to Diana would have been too upsetting for the grieving crowds, as reported in royal biographies.
She certainly is – Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, keep a Rustler 44, Ballochbuie, at Ardfern in Scotland and aim to cruise, sometimes as far as the Hebrides, at least twice a year.
