Duchess of Cornwall guest of honour at BEF Olympic test event reception

The Duchess of Cornwall was the guest of honour at a British Equestrian Federation (BEF) reception in the Queen’s House, Greenwich, during the London 2012 Olympic test event this week.

The Duchess spent a couple of hours chatting to members of the British eventing team, including William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French and Pippa Funnell (pictured right).

She was also introduced by the BEF’s performance director Will Connell and chief executive Andrew Finding to foreign riders, such as New Zealand’s Mark Todd — who was sporting a very short new haircut — test event officials and FEI representatives.

The Duchess is known to have been a keen hunting lady before the ban, subscribing to the Duke of Beaufort’s in Gloucestershire, but it is not known whether she ever evented in her youth.

Other familiar faces spotted by Horse & Hound at the party included Lucinda Green, Eric Smiley, Richard Davison — accompanied by the Countess of Derby, who owns his top horse Artemis — Jane Holderness-Roddam and her sister Jennie Loriston-Clarke and Alice Plunkett.

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