The hardest working royal turns 69 this week
![Princess Anne at Ascot. [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/u_K3y5VoGeEZLToA2BTwqA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NjE-/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-08/15c73890-beb0-11e9-bf7f-b1c316ad7774)
Princess Anne celebrates her 69th birthday on Thursday 15 August.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s only daughter became the first member of the Royal Family to compete in the Olympic Games in the equestrian three-day event in Montreal in 1976.
But she was also the hardest working royal in 2018, notching up 447 domestic appearances and another 71 outings overseas.
Last year Princess Anne clocked more events than Prince William, Kate and Prince Harry combined. (William, 36, attended 150 events at home and 70 abroad, while Harry, 34, made 108 domestic official appearances and 85 overseas.)
In fact, she’s topped Tim O’Donovan’s annual list for The Times on several occasions in recent years.
Prince Charles only just pipped his sister to the post as the hardest working royal of 2017.
Anne is patron for over 200 organisations and attends multiple engagements in a day on a regular basis.
Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise was born on 15 August 1950 at 11:50 am at Clarence House. She is currently 14th in line to the throne.
She married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and the couple have two children together; Peter Phillips, born in 1977 and Zara Phillips, born in 1981.
Anne and Mark announced their separation in 1989 and later divorced in 1992.
The Princess Royal went on to marry one of the Queen’s former equerries, Sir Timothy Laurence on 12 December 1992.
Anne has four grandchildren in total. Her son Peter married Autumn Kelly in 2008 and they have Savannah, eight, and Isla Phillips, seven.
Daughter Zara married rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011 and they have Mia, five, and one-year-old Lena Tindall.
