Divorce, Remarriage Possible : Anne Reportedly Insisted on Separation Over Reconciliation

LONDON —  Princess Anne insisted on a separation from her commoner husband Mark Phillips despite his pleas to save their 16-year marriage, newspapers said today.

“Princess Anne chose the freedom to lead her own life instead of being trapped in a phony marriage--against the wishes of Capt. Mark Phillips,” the Daily Mail said.

The Daily Express reported that Phillips was left out of a royal crisis conference called by Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral in Scotland to plan the timing and wording of the statement released Thursday that 39-year-old Anne and Phillips would live apart but did not plan to divorce.

Newspapers indicated today, however, that the arrangement was less cooperative than the palace was suggesting and that an eventual divorce was possible to enable Anne to remarry.

Last April, in a departure from its customary reticence, Buckingham Palace voluntarily identified royal aide Timothy Laurence as the author of personal letters to Princess Anne that were stolen and given to a newspaper.

Laurence, in charge of the queen’s horses, dropped briefly out of sight, but he was seen last week at Balmoral, where the royal family is on vacation, and attended a picnic with Anne.

Newspapers said that if the queen had been angered by the letters incident, Laurence’s career as a royal aide would have ended.

Instead, he will shortly become captain of the naval frigate Boxer.

Newspaper columnists suggested that despite the palace statement, Anne would be allowed to divorce Phillips after the two-year separation required by the law and marry Laurence.