All About Princess Anne's Home, Gatcombe Park
This weekend, Princess Anne was hospitalized with minor head wounds following what Buckingham Palace described as an "incident" at her Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire.
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.
Here's everything you need to know about Princess Anne's home, Gatcombe Park.
It was built in the 1770s, and rebuilt in 1820.
According to Historic England, "the manors of Minchinhampton and Avening formed the basis of the later Gatcombe Park estate," and after the dissolution of those manors, they were granted to Lord Windsor, who sold the property to Philip Sheppard in 1656. He was succeeded by Samuel Sheppard, but after he died without any issue, the estate passed to his brother Edward Sheppard.
Edward, a successful clothier, built Gatcombe Park. He hired by Francis Franklin of Chalford, who oversaw the construction of the home from 1771 to 1774. A few decades later, around 1820, David Ricardo (a political economist who bought the property in 1814) employed architect George Basevi to remodel and enlarge the house—and this is the house that currently stands. Basevi's additions included the conservatory, single-story wings, and the porch, according to Historic England.
The property remained in the Ricardo family until 1937, when it was sold to Samuel Courtauld, and inherited by Courtauld's son-in-law, R.A. Butler.
Queen Elizabeth purchased the property in 1976 for her daughter.
In 1976, Queen Elizabeth purchased Gatcombe, now a 700 acre estate, from Butler as a gift for her daughter, Princess Anne, and her new son-in-law, Captain Mark Phillips. Gatcombe is where they raised their children, and after the two divorced in 1992, Mark moved to Aston Farm, located on the estate, which is where the Tindalls now live.
After taking over Gatcombe, Princess Anne took over running of the farm on the property. "It's really nice to come back and just be yourself in an area like this," Anne told BBC's Countryfile show in 2014. "Being able to take on a place like this—for me, I've got to make it work. This is not something that comes free, this has got to pay its way, otherwise I can't stay here."
Zara Tindall lives there with her family.
The Tindalls live at Gatcombe in Aston Farm, a renovated seven-bedroom farmhouse. Per Vogue Asutralia, "Aston Farm sits within Gatcombe Park, a royal enclave with discreet security where the Tindalls live with children.... At the centre of the farm is a converted barn known to all as 'the party barn' with a bar and catering facilities, giant screen and lounges that combine to make it the perfect setting for a gathering of old friends."
Gatcombe is located just six miles from Highgrove.
In 1980, Princess Anne's brother, Charles, bought Highgrove House—located just 6.3 miles away from his sister's residence at Gatcombe.
Each year, Gatcombe Park hosts the Festival of British Eventing.
From 1983 to 2023, Gatcombe hosted the Festival of British Eventing, a major equestrian competition this summer. They will not be taking place this summer, however. "It is with a heavy heart that The Festival, which has played a significant part in the British Eventing calendar since 1983, cannot run this year. The event has also been a huge part of my family’s lives and those of many others for 40 years," Peter Phillips, Princess Anne's son, said in a statement.
Captain Mark Phillips also shared, "The horse trials at Gatcombe and more recently the Festival of British Eventing have been a major part of my life for over 40 years when The Princess Royal and I first had the dream. The dream became reality, and with it, many special memories of the many riders, horses, volunteers, sponsors and spectators all of whom massively contributed to the history of the horse trials at Gatcombe Park."
He continued, "It’s truly a great sadness that the original model and indeed the sport has changed so much. Since Covid, costs, particularly insurance, have risen so much that the numbers no longer add up. It is an end of an era, the next 40 years of the sport will be different, let’s hope it can be equally special."
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