Princess Anne is known for her dedication, hard-work and, of course, her dry sense of humour, but she’s just received a huge honour in tribute to something entirely different. Alongside her role as a working royal, the King’s sister was also once a talented professional equestrian.
She might not ride competitively anymore, but she’s always in the crowd at racing events like Cheltenham Festival, which starts this year on 10th March. Now one of their high-profile events has been re-named in tribute to “outstanding” Anne and her skills.
The Amateur’s Gold Cup will henceforth be The Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase. It’ll take place on Gold Cup Day and the CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse, Guy Lavender, has explained why they chose to honour Princess Anne.
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“The Hunters’ Chase at The Festival is a contest which recognises and celebrates the very origins of our great sport,” he’s quoted as saying. “We therefore feel it is very appropriate to stage it under the name of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal – an outstanding all-round equestrian who has excelled in a wide range of disciplines.”
Princess Anne became the first British royal to compete in the Olympics in 1976 and whilst she sadly didn’t win a medal at Montreal’s games, she scooped up several accolades in other equestrian events. The Princess Royal won the 1971 Burghley Three-Day Event in the European Eventing Championships and also won individual and team silver medals at the championships in 1975 in Luhmühlen.
Reflecting upon her equestrian career in 2020, Anne revealed that whilst she knew her time was “limited”, she felt sure that this was the path to pursue if she wanted a job outside being a royal.
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“I thought if I was going to do anything outside of the Royal Family, horses was likely to be the best way of doing it,” she said. “But then you have to find the right horse at the right time. The original horse I rode was bred as a polo pony and should never have been an event horse, but it worked, so that was very satisfying. But I always knew it was going to be limited time.”
She passed her passion for horses down to her daughter Zara Tindall, who is a professional equestrian herself, and who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. In a stroke of good fortune, Zara was even presented with her medal by Princess Anne in her role as Honorary President of the British Olympic Association.
Cheltenham’s newly re-named Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase event will take place on Friday 13th March. Given it’s a tribute to her “outstanding” skills, I would definitely expect Princess Anne to be there to watch the event this year.
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She and Zara typically attend most days of the festival anyway and the Princess Royal’s grandchildren might join her there one day, as they seemingly share her love of horses. Anne is a grandmother of six and her son Peter Phillips told the documentary, Anne: The Princess Royal at 70, that his mum “loves” seeing the next generation riding.
“She loves seeing them ride, she loves having them round for Sunday lunches and taking them for walks. Doing all the things that we would do as kids,” he declared.