Mark Phillips, the first husband of Princess Anne and son-in-law of Elizabeth II, celebrates his 74th birthday this Thursday, September 22. On this occasion, let’s look at his second marriage, in 1997, with Sandy Pflueger. Who is she ?
It’s the British royal family’s first divorce. The wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, whose 74th birthday is this Thursday, September 22caused a lot of ink to flow in 1991. That year, the whole world and the only daughter of Elizabeth II learned of her husband’s infidelity with a DNA test proving that he is, since 1985, the father of a little Felicity, the result of a relationship with a New Zealander named Heather Tonkin. It’s the last straw for Anne, whose 19 years of marriage have been polluted by rumors, most often proven, of deception. With the approval of the queen, the youngest of Charles III then put an end to her union with the cavalier. This does not prevent him from rebuild his life, in 1997, with a certain Sandy Pflueger. But who is she?
Born in 1954 in Hawaii, Mark Phillips’ second wife was an acclaimed rider. Sandy Pflueger notably won prizes in dressage and eventing at the Badminton Horse Trials in 1981. Three years later, she was part of the American dressage team at the Los Angeles Olympics. In 1998, a year after her marriage to Prince Philip’s ex-son-in-law, the athlete took part, under the British banner, in the Rome World Equestrian Games. In addition to being a renowned rider, Sandy Pflueger is the heiress of a millionairelandowner who made his fortune in the automobile.
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Mark Phillips and Sandy Pflueger, passion and infidelity
Her relationship with Mark Phillips began in the mid-1990s, while the ex-husband of Princess Anne trains the American equestrian team in eventing. Subsequently, the couple will jointly train the team in dressage. From their marriage was born StephanieOctober 2, 1997. The family then lived for a few years in England. But in May 2012, after 15 years together, a new extramarital affair pushes the couple of Mark Phillips towards the divorce.
And if the latter had wished to exclude his illegitimate daughter, Felicity, from the children he had with Princess Anne, Peter and Zara, he did not reproduce the same pattern with his third daughter, Stephanie. In effect, The List told us in 2021 that the former equestrian champion had made a point of bringing his first children closer to his latest arrival. Stephanie Phillips would have participated as bridesmaid at her big brother Peter’s wedding to Autumn Kelly in 2008. Union which will also end in a divorce, pronounced in April 2021.
Photo credits: ALPHA AGENCY / BESTIMAGE
