At home with Zara Phillips

By Rebecca Gibson

General news

31 December 2009 14:26

When we were invited to interview the Queen of Eventing, Zara Phillips at her Gatcombe yard, we got a rare glimpse of what life as a royal rider is like. Situated within the grounds of Gatcombe Park, Zara’s yard is a stone’s throw from the modest cottage she shares with England rugby player, Mike Tindall and just yards from her mother, Princess Anne’s stable block.

Despite being 11th in line to the throne, Zara greeted us with a saddle slung over her arm, wearing rather unflattering waterproof trousers, her hair scrapped back into a bun and a peaked woolly headband covering her ears. Looking just like any other horse owner on a cold winter’s day, it’s was immediately obvious that Zara is most at home tending to her horses in a pair of tracky bottoms - a far cry from the portrayals of her in glossy magazines such as Hello! and OK!

In this candid interview we asked Zara the questions you wanted answering. To find out what Zara had to say about her favourite horse of all time Toytown, what she’d be doing now if she weren’t a professional rider and much more, see issue 330 of Your Horse Magazine which goes on sale today.