Princess Anne has forbidden one of Britain's leading equestrians from competing at her Gatcombe Park estate, after a row over the disappearance of a prize horse intensified.
Olympic silver-medallist Jeanette Brakewell was captured on security cameras as she took Master Monarch from his royal stables, where he was being kept by Tom Attwood, a friend of the Princess. It was her daughter Zara Phillips who spotted Jeanette taking the horse and loading it onto a trailer on behalf of her jockey lover Brook Staples.
The horse is at the centre of a dispute between Staples and Attwood, both of whom claim ownership of the gelding. Relations between the two parties apparently deteriorated when Brook left his wife and young daughter for Miss Brakewell last year. Mr Attwood was reportedly perturbed by this and removed Master Monarch from Mr Staples' yard in retaliation.
While Princess Anne is said to be "incandescent" with rage over Brook's retrieval of the animal, the police say it is a purely civil dispute and they will not be taking any action. "The Princess says that what they did was totally unprofessional," revealed a source at the estate. "Gatcombe is the venue for the British Open Horse Trials, so this could really hit both of them hard."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
