Princess Anne has made a surprising decision to stop holding equestrian events at her country estate, according to reports. An article in the Daily Mail reveals that the Princess Royal will no longer host the Gatcombe Horse Trials at the Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire, since planning the event is a great deal of work for her team. "Our event in the autumn will be the final one at Gatcombe," the trials' organiser, Pattie Biden, told the publication. "I told the Princess that I wanted to retire. I don’t want to talk about it too much, but organising the events is very hard… It will be very sad, but there it is."
Equestrian events are an important part of Anne's family life
The annual Gatcombe Horse Trials no doubt hold a special place in the Princess' heart, since she designed some of the courses herself and has watched her daughter, Olympic medal-winner Zara Tindall, compete on a number of occasions. Anne will reportedly continue to run the yearly Festival of British Eventing on the estate, which is organised by her ex-husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and her son Peter Phillips.
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Royal watchers often look forward to Princess Anne's race day outfits, which regularly feature her sporty sunglasses that are actually a sweet tribute to her sports star daughter. Zara was given the Adidas shades as part of her 2012 Olympic kit, and it seems that she since gave them to her mum as a special memento. How lovely is that?
Princess Anne is the UK's busiest royal!
While the Princess Royal is a regular on the racing circuit with Zara, she remains the hardest-working member of the British royal family, having racked up 45 days of public engagements in 2019 so far. She was named the busiest royal of 2018, accumulating 75 days of service for the first half of the year – followed by the Earl of Wessex with 59, and the Prince of Wales, with 52.