The Princess Royal and Zara Tindall
‘The first royal Olympian – and the first royal Olympic medallist’
HRH The Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Tindall are multi-decorated equestrians. The Princess Royal was the first member of the British royal family to compete in an Olympic Games, piloting The Queen’s Goodwill at the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal. They finished 24th place in the individual competition. She also competed in multiple European Championships, winning gold at Burghley in 1971 on Doublet and individual and team silver in 1975 at Luhműhlen with Goodwill. Nowadays, Princess Anne’s equestrian interests have turned to charity. She is a regular speaker at welfare events, including World Horse Welfare, of which she is president. She’s also president of the National Equine Forum (NEF) and contributes to the development of its programme. “We’ve had a lot of developments this year, including the launch of the NEF’s website,” says The Princess Royal, speaking at the forum in March. “It makes good sense and means more people can engage with us. In the equine world, changes are happening all the time.” Zara’s father is seasoned eventing competitor and course builder Mark Phillips. She has followed in both parents’ footsteps and there’s a strong argument for Zara having surpassed their achievements in eventing. She steered High Kingdom to help Team GB clinch team silver at London 2012, making her the first member of the royal family to win an Olympic medal. It came six years after being crowned World and European champion in consecutive years (2006 and 2005 respectively) on the great Toytown.