Inside the royal world of the steadfast Princess Anna

Tyndall said: “Her advice on life in general was invaluable. Whenever we rose a little above our condition, she was the first to bring us back down to earth.”

“When she’s around people she knows,” he added, “whether it’s her organization, her family, her friends, she’s definitely a lot more relaxed, she’s having a lot of fun and she’s always laughing the loudest.”

“She likes good dances,” Zara said. “She’s good on her feet.”

In 2006, Zara was named the BBC Sportswoman of the Year, 35 years after her mother received the same honor, and competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she was honored to receive a silver medal in the team event on her own royal princess.

“Her father was a successful equestrian and won many more medals [than I]Ann said vanity fair“so you kind of wonder if having two parents in that situation helped. Zara has always been a natural and it was really a question of whether she felt she really wanted to do it and she did and she was very diligent and dedicated that’s why she quite rightly succeeded.”

All the grandchildren love horses too, and Anne joked, “Of course, when they started riding, I was an extra hand.”

(Originally published on October 1, 2018 at 3 am PT; updated December 4, 2019 at 9:40 am PT)