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Mark Phillips biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Mark Phillips
  • OCCUPATION: Athlete
  • BIRTH DATE: September 22, 1948 (Age: 64)
  • EDUCATION: Stouts Hill Preparatory School, Marlborough College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: England, United Kingdom
  • Full Name: Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips, CVO, ADC
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

Best Known For

Olympic medalist Mark Phillips is renowned as the commoner who married Princess Anne.

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An estimated 500 million television viewers watched the nuptials, and the day was declared a national holiday.

Phillips and the princess had two children together: Peter Mark Andrew Phillips, born on November 15, 1977, and Zara Phillips, born May 15, 1981. But rumors of their stormy relationship soon surfaced, and their marriage became the frequent topic of the tabloids. In April 1992, after a paternity suit revealed that Phillips had fathered a child with New Zealand schoolteacher Heather Tonkin,

the couple divorced. Princess Anne remarried later that year, to Commander Timothy Laurence of the Royal Navy.

Move to the U.S.

Following the public breakdown of his marriage, Phillips moved to the U.S., and stayed out of the public sphere. He resumed his equestrian pursuits, training athletes in the art of horsemanship and designing courses and trails for riding. He also became a regular contributor to Horse and Hound magazine, and served in a number of roles for the British Equestrian Team and as the Chef d'Equipe with the US Eventing Team.

Phillips remarried on February 1, 1997, this time to accomplished dressage rider Sandy Pflueger. The couple met Phillips through international equestrian activities.

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