Princess Anne High School (PAHS) is one of 11 high schools in the Virginia Beach City Public School System. Opened in 1954, it is the oldest remaining high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. The school is named after the now extinct "Princess Anne County," (itself named after the British Royal, Queen Anne, titled at the time and prior to ascension, Princess of Denmark) which was annexed with the founding of Virginia Beach.

The school is part of the Virginia Beach Public School System, which has a reputation of being the best in the Hampton Roads region. Princess Anne maintained its place as the highest ranked high school in Virginia Beach as well as the Hampton Roads region in Newsweek's listing of America's Best High Schools, continuing its upward trend. (#123 in 2010, #167 in 2008 and #213 in 2007). In 2010, eight of the eleven Virginia Beach City High Schools were in the top 1500, with Princess Anne holding the highest rank by a significant margin. The only Virginia Beach high school International Baccalaureate program is housed in PA, attracting gifted students from throughout Virginia Beach.

High school is a term used in parts of the English-speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education, but not always the highest years of basic education, which can be called a "secondary school" or "secondary college" or other terms, depending on the nation or region (see below: Usage by country). The phrase "high school" is often incorporated into the name of the related institutions.

The term (as "high school") originated in Scotland, with the world's oldest being Edinburgh's Royal High School from 1505. The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, the English High School founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1821. The precise stage of schooling provided by a high school differs from country to country, and may vary within the same jurisdiction. In all of New Zealand and Malaysia along with parts of Australia, Bangladesh and Canada, high school is synonymous with secondary school, and encompasses the entire secondary stage of education.

Anne, Princess Royal KGKTGCVO (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third (behind her mother and elder brother) and rose to second (after her mother's accession) in the line of succession to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms; however, after the birth of two younger brothers and six nieces and nephews she is currently tenth in line.

The seventh holder of the title Princess Royal, Anne is known for her charitable work, being the patron of over 200 organisations, and she carries out about 700 royal engagements and public appearances per year. She is also known for equestrian talents; she won two silver and one gold medal at the European Eventing Championships,^{[citation needed]} and is the only member of the British Royal Family to have competed in the Olympic Games. Currently married to Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, she has two children from her previous marriage to Mark Phillips and two granddaughters. She is known for letting her children live private lives and allowing them to have freedoms that most royal children don't have. Mail Online dubbed her "The best king we never had".