Stolen From Palace, Given to Press : Letters to Princess Stir Divorce Rumors

Three London tabloids published front-page headlines today speculating about a possible divorce for Princess Anne after disclosures about personal letters to her from a handsome young royal aide.

“Can This Marriage Be Saved?” asked the Daily Mail.

“Anne Divorce Crisis At Palace,” said Today.

“Royal Marriage Crisis,” headlined the Daily Mirror, over a picture of the princess in a riding habit, titled: “ANNE. Sad, Shattered, Alone.”

The banner headlines were provoked by a Buckingham Palace statement Saturday that four letters to the princess that had come into the hands of another tabloid, the Sun, were written by the queen’s bachelor equerry, Royal Navy Cmdr. Timothy Laurence, 34.

The letters were stolen inside Buckingham Palace, where the princess has an apartment she sometimes uses. She lives with her husband, former army Capt. Mark Phillips, at Gatcombe Park in western England.

The Sun said the letters were delivered to its offices anonymously. It did not publish the letters and said it gave them to Scotland Yard. The Yard said it was investigating.

Nothing was publicly known of the content of the letters, but the Sunday Mirror claimed to know that they were of “an extremely personal and intimate nature” and “too hot to handle.”

The princess smiled broadly as she began a hectic round of public engagements today by opening a new factory near Manchester in northern England. She did not comment on the press reports.

Anne, 38, is seventh in line to the throne and has been married to Phillips, 40, since 1973. They have two children.