Anne’s husband was shown ‘how highly regarded’ he was by Queen in June

Queen Elizabeth II publicly showed how highly she regarded Princess Anne’s husband, retired Navy officer Sir Timothy Laurence, during the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend, one royal expert said. Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams noted Sir Timothy was the only member of the Royal Family to step on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to enjoy the RAF flypast with the late sovereign on June 2 who not only wasn’t a working member of the Firm but who also was not born within the prominent family.Speaking about Sir Timothy and his role within the Firm, Mr Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk: “Sir Timothy Laurence is a much-valued member of the Royal Family. He is involved in occasional royal activities with his wife, the Princess Royal, such as accompanying her on her [recent] visit to Uganda, but he is not a full-time working royal.”He was, however, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with a select group of members of the Royal Family during the Platinum Jubilee, which showed how highly the Queen regarded him.”In fact he was the only one on the balcony who was not born into the Royal Family.”He was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, which is an honour in the monarch’s personal gift, in 2011.  Princess Anne’s husband Sir Timothy laurence worked as the late Queen’s equerry for three years (Image: GETTY) Sir Timothy was the only Royal Family member not born within the Firm on the balcony on June 2 (Image: GETTY)”The hallmark of Princess Anne’s work and the amazing number of engagements she carries out for the Royal Family is to do them without fuss and extraneous publicity. She simply gets on with it and is much respected for doing this.”Her work is all the more valuable since there are now fewer working members of the Royal Family.”Sir Timothy also avoids the limelight but his contribution to royal life is very much valued.”As it was announced in the early spring, the late monarch had decided to only invite full-time working members of the Firm and their closest relatives to the palace’s balcony on June 2, the first day of celebrations for her historic Jubilee.This meant many members of the Royal Family who had traditionally appeared on the iconic balcony over the years, including Mike and Zara Tindall and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, were excluded during the special Jubilee weekend. READ MORE: Mike Tindall faced backlash from relative ‘dead against’ his marriage Only some royals were invited on the Palace balcony for the RAF flypast on June 2 (Image: GETTY) Princess Anne was supported by Sir Timothy Laurence following the death of the Queen (Image: GETTY)Given they stopped being working members of the Firm at the end of March 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were among those barred from making an appearance alongside the late Queen on the balcony.Beside Sir Timothy, all the other non-working royals who did watch the RAF flypast with the late sovereign were children of senior Firm members – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.The retired Navy officer married Princess Anne in December 1992, shortly after the Princess Royal finalised her divorce from her first husband, Mark Phillips.Sir Timothy, who had worked as the late Queen’s equerry between 1986 and 1989, has since accompanied Princess Anne to some of her engagements, in particular those abroad. DON’T MISS Harry slammed for ‘self-pity’ book title when he has ‘millions’ [REPORT]Experts expose ‘another one of these little holes’ in Sussexes claims [ANALYSIS]King Charles circumvents Sunak after ‘nightmare’ start to reign [REPORT] Princess Anne was joined by Sir Timothy Laurence during her engagements in Australia (Image: GETTY)Just in the past few months, he flew to Australia and Papua New Guinea with Anne, two countries she visited in the spring to mark the Platinum Jubilee.The no-nonsense royal and her husband packed their schedule with engagements during this overseas journey and visited, among other events, the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales, a garden party in Sydney and an investiture ceremony at Port Moresby.During the Jubilee weekend, Anne and Sir Timothy were among the royals tasked to visit one of the four home nations to spread the celebratory spirit across the whole of the UK.Last month, Anne and her husband headed together to Uganda in support of a number of her patronages – including Save the Children and Opportunity International.Sir Timothy will once again provide his support to Anne later this month, as they are to travel together to the Falkland Islands between November 17 and 22.