Rear Admiral Timothy James Hamilton Laurence was born on March 1, 1955 in Camberwell , Surrey, the son of Guy Stewart Laurence and Barbara Alison Laurence, née Symons. The second husband of Anne, Princess Royal, he married her in December 1992 in a Church of Scotland ceremony at Balmoral; this was because she was a recent divorcée and they wanted a church wedding. He had previously served as a royal Equery , meeting Anne when her first marriage to Mark Phillips broke down. He is younger than she and received no peerage on their marriage.

Anne retained her country estate, Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, after her first divorce, but when they first married she and Timothy leased a flat in the Dolphin Square complex in Westminster, as their London residence. This experiment was later ended and they returned to using apartments in Buckingham Palace.

He was at the time of his marriage a Royal Navy Commander; as of 2005 he holds the rank of Rear Admiral.