Mark Phillips Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Early Years And Education

Mark Anthony Peter Phillips was born 22nd September 1948, to Major Peter Phillips and his wife, Anne. He was born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in England,United Kingdom.

Phillips studied at Marlborough College, and then went to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

Career

Phillips was commissioned into the Queen’s Dragoon Guards as a Second Lieutenant after he graduated from Sandhurst in July 1969. In January 1971, he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1973 he was an acting Captain, and in January 1974, he became a Personal Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II. He was promoted to Captain in July 1975.

In March 1978, Phillips retired from the army, although he continued to use his rank, and was known as Captain Mark Phillips.

During the same period, Phillips competed as part of the British equestrian team. The team won gold at the 1970 World Championships, gold at the 1971 European Championships, and gold at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. They won silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

Phillips remains a well-established member of the British equestrian scene. He is known as a course designer for equestrian events, and Phillips also writes on a regular basis for Horse & Hound magazine.

Awards And Honors

Among his honors are the following:

1974:   Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)

1984:   Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, the Queen (ADC(P)

Personal

In 1973, Phillips married Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. The couple met on the equestrian circuit. They had two children, a son, Peter, and a daughter, Zara. The couple divorced in 1992.

In 1985, from the result of an extramarital affair, Phillips had a daughter, Felicity, with Heather Tonkin, a teacher from New Zealand.

In 1997, Phillips married Sandy Pflueger, a dressage rider from the United States. The couple have a daughter, Stephanie. In 2012 the couple separated.