Princess Charlotte has a passion for horses
The royal passion for equestrianism looks set to continue into the next generation with Princess Charlotte.
At a special Buckingham Palace event for Olympic and Paralympics heroes, the Duchess of Cambridge revealed the princess’s love of horses.
Kate said that her 17-month-old daughter is already a fan of horses and riding, while Prince George is interested in fencing.
Para rider Natasha Baker was among the guest athletes at the event, on 18 October.
“I asked her how the children were and she said Charlotte is really enjoying her riding, which is great to hear and I said we may see her here on a line-up in 20 years’ time,’” said Natasha.
”She emphasised that Charlotte has this passion about horses and although she doesn’t echo it, she’ll do her best to champion and encourage it.”
The Queen, Prince Harry and Prince William joined Kate at the event honouring the stars of Rio.
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Equestrian roots
Charlotte’s appreciation of horses runs through generations of the royal family.
Horses have been central to The Queen’s life from a very young age and her daughter Princess Anne shares this passion.
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The Princess Royal took gold at the European Eventing Championships and is committed to equestrian charities.
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s cousin once removed Zara Tindall became the first royal to win an Olympic medal when the event rider took team silver at London 2012 riding High Kingdom.
The Duchess of Cornwall also shares the family’s love of horses and has been president of the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton since 2009.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.