New Princess Anne photo features unexpected star role who is rarely seen

The royal family have marked Princess Anne's birthday with the release of a new photo - but it featured an unexpected guest.

Anne turns 75 on Friday (15 August), having first kicked off the celebrations last month by hosting more than 100 of her favourite charities at Buckingham Palace.

According to the Telegraph, the late Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter personally met with as many as 200-plus guests, thanking them for all their hard work.

And in typical royal fashion, Buckingham Palace has released a new photo of Anne, who is often dubbed the 'hardest working' royal, to mark the special day.

The King's sister was pictured alongside her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, in the snap, which was taken on the night of a state banquet at Windsor Castle last month as the family hosted French President Emmanuel Macron.

Anne is kitted out in her banquet gown and full regalia in the photo, but many have pointed out a detail in the snap that is rarely seen.

Anne has been dubbed the 'hardest working' royal (Hoda Davaine/Getty Images)

And it's all because of who she's pictured with.

Now, it's unlikely to raise any eyebrows that Anne is posing next to her husband of 32 years, but as we know, the royal family has some slightly odd rules and traditions.

And this is one of the reasons why we rarely see Sir Tim in snaps. Tim is not a working royal, and therefore, he's not expected to accompany his wife on official engagements.

Some royal fans, therefore, reckon that including him in an official portrait despite him not being a working royal shows the high regard he's held in among the wider family.

Who is Princess Anne's husband, Sir Tim?

Tim and Anne met in 1989, while he was a commander on the Royal Yacht Britannia, having previously worked as an equerry to Queen Elizabeth II.

Anne was still married to her first husband Mark Phillips when the pair first met, going on to separate that same year, before finally divorcing in 1992.

Back in 1989, a friend of Sir Tim told People: "Tim never stopped thinking about Princess Anne from soon after their first meeting…Anne has treated him as her closest confidant for some considerable time."

The Princess turns 75 this week (Hoda Davaine/Getty Images)

The pair eventually tied the knot in Scotland on 12 December 1992 and have remained relatively private about their marriage ever since.

However, in 2022, Tim gave a rare insight into their relationship, reportedly saying: "It's quite amusing that she married first an army officer and then a naval officer. So there must be something about the military that attracts her."

Elsewhere, fans also spotted that Anne has debuted a new look in her birthday snap.

The pair gave a rare glimpse into their home life in this 2021 snap (theroyalfamily/Instagram)

Fans of the princess will know that her hair has remained in the same style for years now, having donned her 60s-inspired bouffant up-do for the last 50+ years.

However, it looks like Anne has made a change to her signature hairstyle, rocking an elegant chignon in her new birthday portrait instead.

It's a subtle change, but eagle-eyed fans will notice that the latter style sees more volume concentrated on the back and sides of the head, rather than the top.