Mark Phillips angered by Anne’s rumoured relationship with officer

Mark Phillips was thrust into the spotlight back in the Seventies when he married Queen Elizabeth II’s only daughter, Princess Anne, on November 14, 1973. Both equestrian enthusiasts, Mark and Anne met at a party for horse lovers in 1968. They married five years later at Westminster Abbey and had two children together – Peter and Zara. Anne and Mark’s wedding day preceded a tumultuous marriage, with both engaging in extramarital affairs before they eventually divorced in 1992. It has been reported that Mark found some rumours particularly “hurtful”. Mark was said to be angered by rumours that Anne had become become “overly familiar” with her royal protection officer, Peter Cross, who was subsequently transferred away from royal duties.The Sun’s late royal reporter Harry Arnold previously said: “I was told from an amazing source he [Mr Cross] was having an affair with Princess Anne.”I couldn’t use the word ‘affair’, so I invented the phrase that he became ‘over-familiar’ with Princess Anne.”READ MORE: Camilla could do away with major royal tradition that Queen upheld for almost 70 years Anne was rumoured to be ‘over familiar’ with her protection officer, Peter Cross (Image: Getty Images / PA Images) Anne and Mark were married in 1973 but divorced after 19 years of marriage in 1992 (Image: Getty Images) Anne’s rumoured relationship with Peter Cross angered Mark Phillips (Image: Getty Images)Speaking to the News of the World, Mr Cross explained how his and Anne’s bond came to be, saying: “We started to talk. Then somehow we were sitting together on the back stairs which led from the kitchen up to my room. Her arm, I noticed, was leaning against my knee.”Mark also had an affair during his and Anne’s marriage and even had a secret child with another woman. In 1991, Heather Tonkin, an art teacher from New Zealand, told the Daily Express the former Army officer fathered her daughter Felicity five years before.She said: “My ambition is to get Mark’s public acceptance of her and to be able to enter his name on her birth certificate.”Mark initially denied the claim but it was soon revealed that he had been making payments ‒ a total of £6,000 per year ‒ to Ms Tonkin under the guise of hiring her as a consultant on “equestrian matters”.DON’T MISS: Andrew looks set to take on Queen’s beloved dogs after monarch’s death [REVEAL]Queen’s poignant last moments with Charles and Anne by her side [INSIGHT]Inside Buckingham Palace: Glimpse inside Queen Elizabeth II’s home [ANALYSIS] Both Anne and Mark allegedly engaged in extramarital affairs (Image: Getty Images)The same year Mark and Anne divorced, the Princess married her second husband Sir Timothy Laurence. Sir Timothy is a retired Royal Navy oficer who was equerry to the Queen.The couple met while Anne was still married to her first husband, Mark. In 1989, The Sun published private letters between the Princess and Sir Timothy.In a statement at the time, Buckingham Palace said: “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.” Anne and Timothy have been married since 1992 (Image: Getty Images)The couple are still together today and reside at Gatcombe Park, which was a wedding present from the Queen.Mark married equestrienne Sandy Pflueger in 1997, but they split in 2012. Their daughter, Stephanie, got married earlier this year, an event which saw Princess Anne and Mark reunite. The Princess Royal watched her former husband walk his daughter down the aisle at St Mary The Virgin Church in Tetbury. Anne and Mark were joined by their two children and Stephanie’s half-siblings, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, as well as their grandchildren Savannah, 11, and Isla, ten, Mia, eight, and Lena, four, who all acted as Stephanie’s bridesmaids. It has been reported that Mark is now dating Belgian equestrian Florence Standaert.