Princess Anne has made a startling admission about one of the
most famous moments of her sporting career, revealing she has no
memory of competing in part of the Olympic Games after suffering a
serious fall.
The Princess Royal, 75, told fellow
Olympians that she cannot remember the cross-country phase of
the 1976 Montreal Olympics, despite the event becoming one of the
defining moments of her life.
Anne became the first member of the Royal Family to compete at
the Olympic Games when she represented Great Britain in the
equestrian three-day event aboard Goodwill, a horse owned by her
mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
However, during the demanding cross-country section of the
competition, the King’s sister suffered a concussion after falling
when Goodwill became stuck in mud while attempting a jump.
Speaking at a special reunion marking 50 years since the
Montreal Olympics, Anne admitted the incident left her with a
complete memory gap.
“I had a slight problem in that the bit I would like to
remember, which is the cross country, I don’t,” she told
guests.
“But every now and again I see it and think ‘oh ok’. I suspect
Goodwill remembers it, but I don’t.”
Her comments prompted laughter from the audience of former Team
GB athletes gathered at London’s exclusive Lansdowne Club.
At the time of the accident, Anne won widespread admiration for
remounting and continuing the course despite her injuries.
Yet the princess later revealed that she had little recollection
of doing so.
Reflecting on the aftermath of the fall, she previously joked:
“Come on, be fair, I was put back on!”
She also memorably described the effects of the concussion by
saying: “The lights were on, but there was no one at home.”
The reunion brought together athletes who represented Great
Britain at both the Summer and Winter Olympics in 1976.
Addressing the gathering, Anne noted that while the milestone
inevitably highlighted the passage of time, many of her former
teammates looked remarkably well.
The princess described the Games as an experience she still
valued despite the accident.
“It was an experience, and a lot of it was a good experience,”
she said.
Anne concluded her speech by praising the enduring friendships
and shared experiences created through Olympic competition.
The Princess Royal enjoyed an accomplished equestrian career
long before her Olympic appearance. She won individual gold at the
European Eventing Championships in 1971 and was named BBC Sports
Personality of the Year that same year.
Her sporting legacy was later continued by her daughter, Zara
Tindall, who won a silver medal for Team GB in eventing at the
London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Montreal Games also became a family occasion for Anne, who
was watched by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and her brothers,
then-Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.