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Princess Anne's rarely-pictured living room at Gatcombe Park mansion is unexpectedly cosy

The Princess Royal lives in Gloucestershire with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence

Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
May 24, 2024
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Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence might live on the generously sized Gatcombe Estate, but their royal couple's living room in the main house is surprisingly cosy.

The Princess Royal and her husband of 31 years don't often share photographs from inside Gatcombe Park, located on the 700-acre countryside estate in Gloucestershire, but they did share this snapshot of them watching television back in 2021.

At the time, the photograph was shared on the royal family's official Instagram page, showing the late Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, 73, and her husband, 69, relaxing on their sofa while watching sport.

Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence sit in living room watching TV at Gatcombe Park© Instagram
Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence

The snap allowed royal fans to get an idea of the personal items that are sentimental to the pair, and many spotted trinkets, framed photographs and beautiful paintings all in the modestly sized lounge.

Anne and Timothy were sitting causally on their red two-seater sofa, while a singular armchair draped in the same paisley and floral pattern was nestled to their right. In front of them, a coffee table was placed on the Persian-style rug and was full of magazines, books and papers, no doubt for the pair to thumb through at their own pace.

The flat-screen television was sitting atop a wooden cabinet, which appeared to be a vintage piece of furniture that perhaps houses an old television unit. In the corner was a large bookcase cabinet filled with trinkets, animal ornaments and photo frames.

Eagle-eyed royal fans noticed old photos scattered across the room including from Princess Anne's daughter Zara's christening in 1981, a photo of Zara and Anne's son, Peter, together as children, a military picture and various other family snaps.

Princess Anne wore her pearl earrings and striking gold brooch to the Buckingham Palace garden party in 2011© Getty
Princess Anne has lived at Gatcombe since the 1970s

At the time, social media users commented on how "normal" and "cosy" the room looked, despite belonging to a senior working member of the royal family. As one fan summed it up: "I love that their house looks like anyone’s grandmother's house."

The Princess Royal's home office

It's not only the living room that boasts sentimental personal touches at Anne's home. Her home office, which was shown in a previous Zoom call with her late mother back in 2020, is full to the brim with trinkets and photos.

On the shelving cabinet which could be seen just behind her, Anne had neatly scattered a number of animal ornaments across the glass shelves, including birds, rabbits and horses, no doubt a nod to her love of animals and wildlife.

WATCH: Princess Anne shows off home office on Zoom in 2020

More photos, including one from Zara's wedding to former England star Mike Tindall in 2011, were seen in the background.

Princess Anne has lived in the main house since the 1970s after her late mother gifted her the sprawling Georgian residence. 

In addition to the home office and cosy living, the house has five main bedrooms, four guest bedrooms, four reception rooms, a library, a billiard room and a grand conservatory.

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