The only daughter of Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, and Olympic equestrian champion Mark Phillips were married in 1973 and have been married for almost twenty years (see also: On Different Wavelengths: Why Princess Anne's First Marriage Collapsed).
Usually, all royal grooms (it does not matter if they are members of the BCS) on their wedding day receive a special gift from the Queen. But Mark Phillips was one of the few men who politely declined the monarch's honorary offer.
The fact is that on the day of the wedding, Elizabeth II endows the royal suitors with titles. Thus, Prince Andrew became the Duke of York, Prince William became the Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry became the Duke of Sussex. Brides, by law, take the titles of their future husbands.
Mark Phillips, however, did not accept the royal title, although the monarch graciously offered it. It is believed that he turned down the offer because he wanted to retain the rank of captain of the Royal Dragoon Guards.
In their family with Anna, in general, there was always a special attitude towards titles. The princess rejected the offer of Elizabeth II to give titles to her children - Zara and Peter (by birthright, titles are given only to the offspring of the monarch's sons).
As adults, Zara Tyndall and Peter Phillips did not regret their mother's decision, because life without titles gave them so much more freedom. “We are very lucky that our parents decided not to use titles. We grew up with many opportunities,”Tyndall told the Times.
By the way, Anna's younger brother, Prince Edward, also refused the honorary title. The Queen offered him and his bride, Sophie Rhys-Jones, a duchy, but Wessex chose to become an Earl. And for one funny reason: Edward loved the character of Lord Wessex from the movie "Shakespeare in Love" and dreamed of wearing a similar title. As a result, the prince's children, Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn, lost the right to bear the titles of prince and princess.
Moreover, the Wessexes prefer to raise their children in the most "normal" atmosphere. “They go to regular school, spend the night with friends, on weekends we love to walk the dogs and spend time together,” Countess Sophie told The Sunday Times. It is curious that little Louise for quite a long time did not even know that her grandmother was the Queen of Great Britain (read also: How Elizabeth II's beloved granddaughter found out that her grandmother was a queen).
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