The Royal Family is constantly in the spotlight. But would you believe one of the most important royals manages to always avoid that spotlight?
The royal in question is Princess Anne. As the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, Anne has been close to the center of power in the U.K. since she was born. Nonetheless, few people outside the U.K. really know much about Anne.
That’s where we come in. What happens when we finally shine a spotlight on Princess Anne? You may be surprised by what you discover as you keep reading!
Princess Anne is an accomplished equestrian
Princess Anne is 72 years old now, and horses have been part of Anne’s life from the very beginning. After all, her father, Prince Philip, was an accomplished polo player, and Elizabeth loved to breed horses. But even in such a horse-loving family, Anne quickly stood out with her equestrian skills.
As Biography reports, Anne was competing in equestrian events by age 11 and became the European Eventing Champion at 21. In 1976, she became the first royal to compete in the Olympics, and she did so despite having a fractured vertebra. During this competition, she fell off her horse and suffered a concussion that left her unable to remember the back half of the event that she somehow found the strength to complete.
The princess eventually switched from eventing to racing, and she even became the president of the Fédération Équestre Internationale between the years 1986 to 1994. And while she may not be a competitive equestrian these days, Anne’s love of horses never went away.
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Anne was once almost kidnapped
Typically, royals are kept far from violence and violent acts. But as the BBC reports, 26-year-old burglar Ian Ball ran Anne’s limo off the road and began firing a gun. He ended up wounding a journalist, Anne’s driver, and two policemen before confronting the princess directly.
According to the Age, Ball leveled his gun at Anne and told her exactly what he wanted. “I want you to come with me for a day or two because I want £2 million. Will you come?” Anne quickly responded, “Not bloody likely — and I haven’t got £2 million.”
Remarkably, Anne was able to escape on her own via the other side of her limo, and Ball got caught when trying to pursue her. To this day, Anne standing up to her attacker is one of the more inspiring stories of royal resilience.