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Happy 75th birthday to The Princess Royal – one of the most influential horsewomen in history

Kate Johnson Kate Johnson

    • Those with first-hand experience of riding and working alongside The Princess Royal share their memories – both personal and public – to celebrate this supreme horsewoman on her 75th birthday. Kate Johnson reports

    As a pony-mad schoolgirl, The Princess Royal relished the rough-and-tumble childhood familiar to many H&H readers. She has since risen to become one of the most successful and influential horsewomen in history.

    Privilege alone doesn’t win European eventing titles, and since her hard graft in the competitive sphere, Princess Anne has made an enduring impact on the equestrian world. Here’s a glimpse of her seven decades of devotion through the words of significant names across the horse world.

    Mark Todd: double Olympic gold medallist, five-time Burghley and four-time Badminton winner

    “Princess Anne was competing when I first came to England; I remember her on Goodwill and Stevie B as a highly accomplished horsewoman. It can’t have been easy. She had her other life while trying to be competitive in the equestrian world, which she did very successfully.

    “I was a naive boy from New Zealand country, and everything looked so polished in England. Princess Anne was immaculately turned out, elegant on a horse, looked good going cross-country, and all eyes were on her.

    “As a new kid on the block I was always interested in the top riders – Lucinda Green, Mark Phillips, Richard Meade – and she was definitely one of them. I’d only ever read about them and it was fascinating to see them in the flesh, warming up, the horses they rode, what they did.

    “She has great balance, feel and a strong competitive spirit; you don’t win what she has without working and training hard. And she has a huge love and knowledge of horses.

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    Kate Johnson
    Kate Johnson

    Freelance journalist
    Born in Australia and bought up in the Midlands, Kate has ridden since childhood. After completing her degree and living abroad for several years, she became an award-winning BBC radio producer and Channel 4 documentary producer after which she became a freelance journalist, contributing to the Daily Mail, The Times, The Telegraph and others. She also collaborated with top jumps trainer Nicky Henderson OBE, to write his best-selling memoir, Nicky Henderson: My Life in 12 Horses. She owns currently cares for retrained National Hunt racehorse, Stop the Show.
    Kate Johnson

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