Royal Watch News

Zara Phillips hoping to be 'luckier' than Anne in Olympics

Jul 23, 2012, 12:02 GMT

Zara Phillips

Britain's Zara Phillips is hoping to be 'luckier' than Princess Anne in the London Olympics.

The 31-year-old royal is set to follow in the footsteps of her mother and father, Mark Phillips, by competing in the Olympics later this month - and she is hoping not to fall off her horse, High Kingdom, as Anne famously did in the 1976 Games in Montreal.

She said: 'I just hope I'll be a bit luckier and not fall.'

Zara makes up one-fifth of the British eventing team at the Olympics and she is just pleased to be part of Team GB for the prestigious event after she was cruelly denied the opportunity to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics when her horse Toytown was injured.

She added to The Sun newspaper: 'I'm not the only person it has ever happened to, you have to just keep trying. I thought I had a chance this time but it was still awesome to get the call saying I was in the team.

'I rang my parents straight away and told them. They are very excited and very proud.

'Obviously the queen is very proud of my selection too. My family are right behind me.'

As well as Anne's appearance in Montreal, Mark won a gold medal as part of Britain's three-day eventing team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, as well as a silver medal in the same discipline at the 1988 Games in Seoul.