Zara Phillips feels media pressure

Aug 23, 2005, 12:12 GMT

British royal Zara Phillips claims she feels under pressure to look good.

The 24-year-old beauty, whose mother is Princess Anne, has revealed she has to make a big effort with her appearance because she is in the public eye a lot.

She moaned: "It's hard work! If you don't look good, then the media are going to slate you for it."

However, the horse-riding blonde, who is dating rugby ace Mike Tindall, admits she doesn't have much time to work on her wardrobe.

She said in an interview with Britain's Hello! magazine: "I do like clothes, but I don't have much time during the summer to focus on that side of things."

Earlier this month, Zara was called up for the UK's three-day equestrian eventing squad for the upcoming European championships.

The pretty royal was handed a last-minute call-up to the team after team rival Pippa Funnell was forced to withdraw from next month's event, in England, after her horse got injured.

The surprise selection will give Zara a boost in her bid to earn a place in the eventing team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the 2012 London Olympics.

Zara narrowly missed out on a place in the squad for the last Olympic Games, in Athens, because of an injury to her favourite competitive horse, Toytown.

Copyright 2005 BANG Media International