Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Anne is only 16, but never too early to arrange a marriage




April 12, 1967

Princess Anne is 16 years old, and still at boarding school. Her parents -- Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh -- have not allowed her "out on a date alone," but society columnists have started to "gossip about the boys she sees during her vacations," reports United Press International

The young men are, of course, a "very select band," well known to courtiers and most are friends and relatives of the Queen and Prince Philip.

Among the group are Crown Prince Carl Gustav of Sweden, Prince Welf and Prince Georg of Hanover, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, the Earl of Caithness, Guy Nevill, and the Hon. Norton Knatchbull.


Princess Anne will turn 17 on August 15, and she will be going out "quite a lot as a part of a group to select dances, cocktail parties and theater trips."

Some or all of these young women will be invited to visit with the Royal Family during their summer vacation at Balmoral Castle in Scotland or will be asked to act as Anne's escort.

Court observers say that Anne, a "tall princess with light blond hair and light blue eyes is unlikely to want to break out of this circle."

She has accepted "the royal royal rules," which means going out in a group of usually six, and the Queen has received "full details" beforehand.

There are no excuses of the Princess is late returning home to Buckingham Palace.    Joining the party always is the Princess' security and driver.


Crown Prince Carl Gustav of Sweden "made a great impression" when he spent a vacation at Balmoral.  He is expected to see Anne this summer in Denmark at the wedding of Princess Margrethe, the heir to the Danish throne, to a French nobleman.   The Danish princess is a first cousin of Crown Prince Carl Gustaf.

Carl Gustav and Anne are both keen on "riding, swimming, sailing and tennis."

Princes Welf, 19, and his younger brother, Georg, 18, are regular guests at Balmoral.  Welf is said to be a favorite of Princess Anne, and is also a close friend of her older brother, Prince Charles.  Both attended Gordonstoun in Scotland.

[The original article neglects to mention that Princes Welf and Georg and Princess Anne were first cousins.  The two Hanover princes were the sons of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark and her second husband, Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover.]

Prince Alexander, 22, is a godson of Queen Elizabeth II.  He attended Gordonstoun,  and showed Prince Charles around when he first arrived there.

Guy Nevill, 21, is the son of Lord and Lady Rupert Nevill, who are close friends of the Queen.  Princess Anne often spends weekends at their home, Uckfield, which is near Benenden, her boarding school.  Guy is planning a career in business.  His father is a stockbroker.

The Earl of Caithness, 18, succeeded to the peerage in 1965.  His father served for many years as the estate manager at Balmoral.  His mother lives in a grace-and-favor house at Hampton Court Palace.

Hon. Norton Knatchbull, 19, is a godson of the Duke of Edinburgh.  He is the son of Lord and Lady Brabourne (Lady Patricia Mountbatten), and a grandson of Earl Mountbatten.


8 comments:

Matthew Plooster said...

Very interesting to hear that Carl Gustav was alleged to be a potential suitor for Anne, I had never heard that. But HM (or, more accurately, the rumor mill) must think very highly of an Anglo-Swedish marriage/the Swedish royal house as there were those rumors of King Carl Gustav and Queen Elizabeth trying to match Prince William and Princess Madeleine. (Oh what a great match that would have been...)

alex said...

Besides being Anne's forst cousins, Hanover boys had a unique problem: they were illegitimate according the Royal Marriages Act, as their parents were the only ones who had a permission withheld by a monarch.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Carl was never a candidate. he was well known to Elizabeth and Philip, neither of whom were impressed with the young prince .. total nonsense about an arrange marriage with William and Madeleine. I am not sure if they have met even though Madeleine and her husband live in London and have 2 kids the same age as George and Charlotte -- personally, I think the writer was stretching the facts ... not knowing that Welf and Georg were first cousins .. I padded the story with more facts ... about Crown Prince Alexander, Norton (the article called him Norton Brabourne, and said the Queen was his godmother) or that Anne would see Carl at Margrethe's wedding -- the only British royal to go was Marina.

Unknown said...

The thought of anyone telling Anne who to marry is quite hilarious!

quet said...

How delightful it would be if Princess Royal married Crown Prince of Sweden

Diane Brown said...

Well Anne should be happy to dodge that bullet w Carl Gustav. He was a very naughty boy (allegedly) and Silvia had to deal with much.

The Blessed Virgin said...

Amazing the resembles of Princess Anne's daughter and also the Queen. I wonder if there is a photo of the four generations of the ladies, Queen, Princess Royal, Zara, and her daughter.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Queen attended Mia's baptism so it is possible that a family photo was taken