50 Years Ago, Princess Anne, Daughter of Elizabeth II, Visited Ukraine’s Capital to Defend Her European Championship Title
The royal family today congratulated Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, on her 74th birthday. One of the main passions in her life has been horses, which brought her to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, 50 years ago.
In the autumn of 1973, 23-year-old Anne travelled to Ukraine with her father Prince Philip, President of the International Equestrian Federation, and her fiancé Mark Phillips to compete in the European Equestrian Championships, then hosted by Kyiv, to defend her title as European champion. However, this did not happen. During the performance, she fell off her horse.
The competitions were held on the territory of the open-air museum in Pyrohiv and its surroundings.
In an interview, the then mayor of Kyiv, Volodymyr Husiev, recalled that when the audience was in a frenzy after the princess fell, her father, Prince Philip, showed no emotion and said that it was not the first time she had fallen and that there were already doctors there.
The father was right - Anna got up, shook herself off and continued walking on her own. Her horse Goodwill was led by her fiancé Mark Phillips.
Princess Anne was forced to withdraw from further participation in the European Championships in the triathlon because she landed on her face after falling from the horse.
Indeed, this was not the first or last time Princess Anne fell from a horse. But witnesses to those events also recall that Princess Anna won over everyone present with her love and attention to her horse: at the hippodrome, she went to the stables, put on an apron and began washing and combing her Goodwill herself. In the Soviet team, this work was mostly done by grooms.
Back in 1973, it was the last European Intermediate Championships in Eastern Europe.
