Timothy Laurence

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Vice Admiral

Sir Timothy Laurence

GCVO , CB , CSM , ADC , FSA
Sir Tim Laurence 2023 (cropped).jpg
Sir Tim Laurence in 2023
Born (1955-03-01) 1 March 1955 (age 70)
Camberwell, London, England
AllegianceFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchNaval ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
Years of service1973–2011
CommandsChief Executive, Defence Estates (2007–2010)
HMS Montrose (1996)
HMS Cumberland (1995–1996)
HMS Boxer (1990–1992)
HMS Cygnet (1982–1983)
Battles / wars NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches
Companion of the Order of the Star of Melanesia (Papua New Guinea)
Alma mater University College, Durham (BSc)
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1992)​
Relations Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence KCMG (great-uncle)
Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom KCB (great-great-great-grandfather)
The Lord Young of Acton (cousin)
Levy baronets (kinsmen)

Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence (born 1 March 1955) is a British retired Royal Navy officer and husband of Anne, Princess Royal, the only sister of King Charles III.

Contents

Laurence served as Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II from 1986 to 1989, before marrying her daughter, Princess Anne, in 1992.

Early life and education

Timothy James Hamilton Laurence was born on 1 March 1955 at Camberwell, South London, the younger son of Commander Guy Stewart Laurence RN (1896–1982; later a sales executive for MAN Marine Engines), and Barbara Alison (née Symons, 1928–2019). [1] [2] He has an elder brother, Jonathan Dobree Laurence (born 1952). The Laurences descend patrilineally from Zaccaria Levy, a Jewish merchant who arrived in England from Venice (and possibly initially from Baghdad) in the late 18th century, by his wife Simcha Ana née Montefiore. Their son Joseph changed the family name to Laurence. [3]

Laurence attended The New Beacon Preparatory School and then Sevenoaks School, Kent, before going up to read Geography at University College, University of Durham, [4] on a Naval Scholarship, graduating with an Upper-Second Class Bachelor of Science (Hons). As an undergraduate, Laurence edited the student newspaper, Palatinate . [5]

Laurence was commissioned into the Royal Navy as a midshipman on 1 January 1973, becoming an acting sub-lieutenant on 1 January 1975. 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. [1] He was promoted lieutenant 10 months early, on 1 March 1977. In 1978, Laurence was attached to the training establishment HMS Vernon and in the next year served on the Ton-class minesweeper HMS Pollington. [6]

Laurence then served briefly as the Second Navigating Officer of the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia, and from 1980 to 1982 he was Navigating Officer of the destroyer HMS Sheffield. [7] He took command of the patrol boat HMS Cygnet off the Northern Irish coast in 1982, deployed to patrol for IRA gunrunners. For distinguished service in Northern Ireland Laurence was mentioned in despatches. [6]

After attending HMS Dryad for the Principal Warfare Officer course he was posted to the frigate HMS Alacrity. Laurence was promoted lieutenant commander on 1 March 1985. He attended the Royal Australian Navy Tactics Course at HMAS Watson, Sydney, in March 1986 during which he was notified of his first staff appointment as Equerry to The Queen, [7] a post he held from 11 October 1986 until 16 September 1989. [8] [9] He was promoted to commander on 31 December 1988. [7]

In October 1989, Laurence was posted to the frigate HMS Boxer, and took over as commanding officer on 30 January 1990, at age 34. Between 1992 and 1994, Laurence served on the Naval Staff at 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. [6]

Laurence was promoted as captain on 30 June 1995, and until 1996 commanded the frigate HMS Cumberland. In May 1996, the ship returned from the Adriatic, where HMS Cumberland served in the NATO-led IFOR Task Force. On 27 August 1996, Laurence was appointed Commanding Officer of the frigate HMS Montrose as well as Captain of the 6th Frigate Squadron. [10] Until October 1996, the ship was deployed to the South Atlantic, on patrol of the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory. In July 1997, Laurence returned to the Ministry of Defence, first on the Naval Staff and then from June 1998, on promotion to Commodore, as a member of the Implementation Team for the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. [6]

Later career

Elected Hudson Visiting Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford, in 1989, he wrote a paper on the relationship between humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping. 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, Laurence was back at the Ministry of Defence, as Director of Navy Resources and Programmes. [11]

Promoted to rear admiral on 5 July 2004, [12] and appointed Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff with responsibility for Resources and Plans, on 30 April 2007, Laurence was further promoted as vice admiral and appointed chief executive of Defence Estates (later renamed Defence Infrastructure Organisation). [11]

In 2008, Laurence was admitted as a Younger Brother of Trinity House. [13]

Laurence became Head of Profession for the British Government's Property Asset Management community in July 2009. The community includes practitioners in construction procurement, estates and property management, and facilities/contracts management. Laurence was awarded Honorary Membership by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Hon. MRICS) also in 2009. [14]

Laurence retired from Royal Navy service in August 2010 and now pursues a portfolio of mainly non-executive and charitable interests, with a particular emphasis on property and regeneration. [15] He served on the board of the project management company Capita Symonds until 2014 and is non-executive chairman of the property developers Dorchester Regeneration. [16] [17] He is non-executive chairman of Purfleet Centre Regeneration, a newly-established company specialising in site reclamation and regeneration. [18] He was engaged as a senior military adviser to PA Consulting until 2015. [19]

Sir Timothy served as Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers for 2010/11. [20]

Chairman of the English Heritage Trust between April 2015 and December 2022, Laurence also served as Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission until 30 June 2019. [21] [22] A Trustee of the HMS Victory Preservation Company, [23] his transport interests also include membership of the Great Western Advisory Board. [24]

Laurence (third from left) processing with members of the Royal Family to the lying-in-state of Elizabeth II, 14 September 2022 Procession to Lying-in-State of Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall - 66.jpg
Laurence (third from left) processing with members of the Royal Family to the lying-in-state of Elizabeth II, 14 September 2022

Sir Timothy served as President of Kent CCC for 2020, and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA) in 2021. [25]

In December 2023, Laurence was appointed Chairman of the Science Museum Group. [26]

In January 2025 Sir Timothy was forced to pull out of an official visit to South Africa with the Princess Royal after suffering from a torn ligament while working on their Gloucestershire estate, Gatcombe Park. [27]

Marriage

Laurence rode in the Scottish State Coach after the coronation of King Charles III on 6 May 2023, alongside Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his wife, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester. Coronation of Charles III and Camilla - Coronation Procession (66).jpg
Laurence rode in the Scottish State Coach after the coronation of King Charles III on 6 May 2023, alongside Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his wife, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester.

Laurence met Princess Anne when serving as an Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II in 1986, at a time when it was much rumoured that her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips was breaking down. In 1989, the existence of private letters from Laurence to the Princess was revealed by The Sun newspaper, though it did not name the sender. Buckingham Palace issued a statement: "The stolen letters were addressed to the Princess Royal by Commander Timothy Laurence, the Queen's Equerry. We have nothing to say about the contents of personal letters sent to Her Royal Highness by a friend which were stolen and which are the subject of a police investigation." [28]

Laurence and Princess Anne married on 12 December 1992 in a Church of Scotland ceremony at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral [29] (the Church of Scotland permits second marriages for divorcees). Although not elevated to the peerage upon marrying into the Royal Family, Laurence was appointed a Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen in 2008 then invested in June 2011 as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. [30] Advanced as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in August 2025, [31] Sir Timothy will be able to display his coat of arms, once proven by the College of Arms, on an armorial plate at the Savoy Chapel alongside other GCVOs. [32]

Princess Anne kept her country estate, Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, after her divorce from Captain Mark Phillips. After she married Laurence, the couple leased, as their London residence, a flat in the Dolphin Square estate in Westminster. They later moved to apartments in Buckingham Palace and now keep an apartment at St James's Palace. [33]

Honours

GCVO star RVO-Star.jpg
GCVO star
UK Royal Victorian Order ribbon.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)21 August 2025 [31]
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)14 June 2011 [37]
Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)23 August 1989 [38]
Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB) – Military Division 16 June 2007 [39]
General Service Medal 1962 BAR MID.png General Service Medal 18 October 1983, with 1 Clasp Northern Ireland and the oak leaf emblem for being mentioned in despatches [40]
UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 6 February 2002 [41]
QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 6 February 2012 [41]
UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal 6 February 2022 [42]
UK King Charles III Coronation Medal BAR.svg King Charles III Coronation Medal 6 May 2023
Ribbon bar of the Order of the Star of Melanesia.svg Companion of the Order of the Star of Melanesia (CSM)29 September 2005 [43]

Authored articles

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Happy birthday Sir Timothy Laurence: ten facts about Princess Anne's husband". Hello! . 1 March 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Laurence". Telegraph Announcements. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Klein, Emma (1996). Lost Jews: The Struggle for Identity Today. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 19. ISBN   978-0-333-61946-9.
  4. ↑ "Alumni in the Armed Forces". Durham University. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  5. ↑ Qualtrough, Stuart (23 May 1999). "People's Prince Will's may go to Durham University". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Wharton, James (13 June 2022). "Who is Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence?". Forces.Net. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 "In Quiet Scottish Ceremony, Anne Marries Naval Officer". The New York Times. 13 December 1992. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "No. 50833". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 February 1987. p. 1951.
  9. ↑ "No. 52074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 March 1990. p. 3321.
  10. ↑ "Getting to know Timothy Laurence". Royal Central. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. 1 2 Emily Wright (11 July 2008). "The line of duty – Tim Laurence, Defence Estates". Building .
  12. ↑ "No. 57345". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 July 2004. p. 8387.
  13. ↑ www.trinityhouse.co.uk
  14. ↑ "DCMS appoints five new Commissioners for English Heritage". Department of Culture, Media and Sport. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Proctor, Charlie (12 December 2017). "Princess Anne and Sir Tim Laurence celebrate 25 years of marriage". Royal Central. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. ↑ Eden, Richard (21 October 2012). "Royal concern as billion-pound contract could be clinched by firm that employs Princess Anne's husband". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Senior Management Team". Dorchester Group. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Sir Tim Laurence: We're serious about £800m Purfleet plan". Thurrock Gazette. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Vice Admiral Tim Laurence appointed as senior advisor at PA Consulting Group". PA Consulting. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  20. ↑ www.coachmakers.co.uk
  21. ↑ "English Heritage announces social policy expert Gerard Lemos as its next Chair". English Heritage. English Heritage Trust. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  22. ↑ "HRH Princess Anne and Sir Tim Laurence attend CWGC Cemetery to mark centenary of the Zeebrugge Raid". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "The HMS Victory Preservation Company". CharityData. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Our People". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  25. ↑ www.sal.org.uk
  26. ↑ "Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, KCVO, CB appointed as Chair to the Science Museum Group".
  27. ↑ Burchfield, Rachel (21 January 2025). "Princess Anne Undertakes South Africa Royal Tour Solo After Husband Sir Timothy Laurence Cancels Following Injury". People. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  28. ↑ Kaufman, Joanne; Cooper, Jonathan (24 April 1989). "A Crisis Rocks a Royal Marriage". People. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  29. ↑ "1992: Princess Royal remarries". BBC On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  30. ↑ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission appoints new Commissioner" (Press release). 11 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  31. 1 2 "No. 64835". The London Gazette . 1 September 2025. p. 17010.
  32. ↑ www.centralchancery.org.uk
  33. ↑ "The Royal Family". The Royal Family. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009.
  34. ↑ "No. 49510". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 October 1983. p. 13651.
  35. ↑ Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence FSA - website of the Society of Antiquaries of London
  36. ↑ "Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence appointed Patron of the International Maritime Rescue Federation". IMRF. Retrieved on 27 September 2023.
  37. ↑ "No. 59841". The London Gazette . 5 July 2011.
  38. ↑ "No. 51858". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 September 1989. p. 10109.
  39. ↑ "No. 58358". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2007. p. 2.
  40. ↑ "No. 49510". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 October 1983. p. 13651.
  41. 1 2 Medal Yearbook 2021. Honiton, Devon: Token Publishing. 2021. p. 295. ISBN   978-1-908828-53-8.
  42. ↑ "Platinum Jubilee Medal revealed". Gov.uk.
  43. ↑ "Farewell, princess". Post-Courier Online. 30 September 2005. Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
Military offices
Preceded by
Vice-Admiral
Peter Dunt
 Chief Executive of Defence Estates
2007–2011		Succeeded by
Andrew Manley
as Chief Executive,
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
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