Mark Phillips

Vocation

Notable

Family

English Olympic gold-medal-winning horseman for Great Britain and former husband of Anne, Princess Royal, whom he married on 14 November 1973. Although a commoner, his blood line can be traced to Edward I. They divorced on 12 April 1992 after 19 years of marriage and two children, Peter, 14 and Zara, 10. In the spring of 1991 a blond art teacher, Heather Tonkin from New Zealand, claimed Phillips was the father of her five-year-old daughter, Felicity. Tonkin filed suit for maintenance and hoped to get his public acceptance of the girl. Although Phillips has never publicly acknowledged paternity he had, for five years, made quarterly payment to her, totaling $80,000, through an agent in Sydney, Australia. The agent and close personal friend of Phillips, James Erskine, claims the fees were for "equestrian consultancy." Phillips was confirmed as the father as a result of DNA testing during the paternity suit in 1991. Tonkin claims she met Phillips in November 1983 when she attended his riding clinic in New Zealand. They met again on 20 November 1984 where she was flattered when he invited her to his hotel for what she assumed would be a small party. Instead, she found herself alone with him and infatuated, spent the night. She found she was pregnant on 18 December 1984 and gave birth to Felicity Bridget (nicknamed Bunny) on 10 August 1985 in New Zealand. He and his second wife, American heiress Sandy Pflueger, married on 1 February 1997, and had their first and only child, daughter Stephanie, on 2 October 1997. On 3 May 2012, it was confirmed by Phillips' solicitors that Phillips and Pflueger had separated, intending to divorce. Link to Wikipedia biography