The Princess Royal has been joined by some special visitors on her daily horse rides around her country estate, Gatcombe Park, in Gloucestershire. The Queen's daughter, who turns 70 next month, revealed in a rare interview with Australian Women's Weekly that her granddaughters Savannah and Isla (Peter and Autumn Phillips' children), and Mia and Lena (Zara and Mike Tindall's daughters) have been popping over to see her from their homes nearby.
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Princess Anne told the publication: "They do occasionally come over. It gives them a change of scenery and a bit more water to play in."
Both Anne's children from her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips, Peter and Zara, grew up at Gatcombe Park.
"I think on the whole you're very lucky if you can have children growing up on farms," she told the magazine. "They have more time to themselves; there's an expectation that they will actually go out and enjoy themselves on their own. You don't watch them every minute of the day. That is quite important."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesAnne with Isla, Mia and Savannah in August 2019
The royal lives on the country estate with her second husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and she has begun to carry out in-person engagements again since lockdown measures have been eased in the UK. Last week, she visited Lydbrook Primary School and Bathurst Pool.
A documentary about the Princess is set to air this summer in honour of her 70th birthday on 15 August. The 90-minute ITV film Princess Royal: Anne At 70 will give viewers unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to her public and private life and will feature interviews with some of her closest family members, including her children, Peter and Zara.
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