Princess Anne reveals her unlikely lifelong obsession – which began when she was just five

PRINCESS Anne has confessed her true life’s love and obsession is for LIGHTHOUSES.

The Princess Royal gushed about her unlikely fascination describing them as “an enduring symbol of man’s tenacity, ingenuity and altruism”.

She says lighthouses are man’s achievement “in the face of the unrelenting power and destructive force of nature”.

And describes lighthouses as being “built by men of courage and vision” which have “become symbols of our determination to co-exist with nature” adding –  “they still evoke feelings of security and reliability”.

The Princess Royal has been strangely obsessed with lighthouses since she was just five years old.

Her odd hobby, called ‘pharology’, even featured in series five of The Crown when she took the Queen to a lighthouse in the first episode.

For many years, Anne’s ambition is to see all the 208 lighthouses and major lights in Scotland. It is believed she is now well past the half-way point.

Anne, normally spends three days off the west coast on board the Northern Lighthouse Board vessel Pharos visiting more beacons.

Anne, who has been patron of the NLB since 1993, started visiting lighthouses with the organisation the following year.

She has also visited an unknown number privately on trips with her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

The couple have a £500,000 yacht ‘Ballochbuie’ based at Ardfern in Argyll – from where they can explore even more Scottish islands and lighthouses.

In a foreword for a new edition of Rock Lighthouses of Britain and Ireland by Christopher Nicholson, the princess wrote: “Lighthouses are an enduring symbol of man’s tenacity, ingenuity and altruism in the face of the unrelenting power and destructive force of nature.

“Over the centuries they have enabled many lives to be saved, and in so doing have become part of our history, folklore and engineering achievements.

“From first construction to modern day automation, our lighthouses have been upgraded and modified to make use of advancing technology, but they still remain beacons of light in the dark.

“Built by men of courage and vision they have become symbols of our determination to co-exist with nature, and even though they are no longer under the care of the lighthouse keeper, they still evoke feelings of security and reliability.

“My association with all of the British lighthouse authorities stems from my own deep and long-held interest in our lighthouses.

The accounts you will read in this book are a fascinating record of a bygone era, dogged determination and humane achievement, so it is a book that I found thoroughly absorbing.”