It's an honour that's been bestowed on both her mother and father.Zara Phillips will represent her country at the Olympic Games this summer after being selected for the British eventing team.She has been chosen for one of five places with her mount High Kingdom.
On Monday, the British Equestrian Federation confirmed it had formally nominated Zara after she took third place in Bramham International Horse-Trials.Her selection will now be reviewed and ratified by the British Olympic Association. "It's awesome to be given this opportunity, I'm really excited and can't wait to kick on and get him there," the delighted royal said. "High Kingdom is a pretty cool, very relaxed kind of guy. I was really happy with him at Bramham as he’d obviously grown up and is improving all the time. "He's pretty pony-like, a nippy little jumper and easy to manoeuvre so hopefully it will suit him well."
It’s a poignant moment in Zara’s career – not least because she missed out on selection for both the 2004 and 2008 Olympics because of injuries to her horse Toytown.And her family will no doubt be overjoyed by the news, in particular her mother Princess Anne, who famously represented Britain at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.Her father Captain Mark Phillips will also be delighted. He won team gold at the 1972 Munich Games, and a silver medal in Seoul in 1988.The Princess Royal’s ex-husband will be in London this summer, albeit in an opposing camp to his daughter.He is the trainer, or 'chef d'equipe', of the United States Eventing Team - although will surely be cheering on his girl as she makes her Olympic debut.Joining Zara on Team GB are William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Kristina Cook and Georgina French.