Zara and Anne: Like Mother, Like Daughter | 2021 Documentary

[Music] a royal without a royal title it's fair to say that zara is a great credit to the royal family jesus added a certain amount of celebrity and a great deal of glamour fun-loving colorful upbeat zara is one royal unconstrained by old-fashioned protocols a member of the royal family gets her tongue ring she certainly did do things that sparked controversy tonight we reveal what's really made zara the progressive royal she's become and ask how has her mother princess anne influenced her life zara has really looked to her mum as a way to live her own life there is no pretense there's nothing superficial about either of them did anne manage to free her daughter from a life of royal restrictions and would have just reminded zara of her responsibilities but at the same time she allowed her to make her mistakes and has zara been given the life and always wanted to live she has had a lot more freedom and a lot more opportunity than her mother ever did dan's vocation her calling her duty was always to be the princess royal what's their relationship really like i think there's a lot of similarities in character and how has it endured i give you lots of advice yeah and criticism it is a unique and very close and very strong relationship from sporting achievements and was the very first member of the royal family to compete in the olympics zara was the very first member of the royal family to get a medal in the olympics to their modern day love lives i think zara is very much like her mother in that she is a free spirit she's had some quite colorful boyfriends in the past the princess royal and her commoner daughter have far more in common than on first glance this is the story of how these two women have defied and defined our royal family [Music] the 15th of may 1981. [Music] princess anne has a baby girl both are well zara's delivery was was positive and quite urgent i think she went into labor quite quickly with zara good evening princess anne tonight gave birth to a baby girl a sister for peter who's now three and she's the queen's first granddaughter it's not yet known what the new baby will be called but whatever her name she'll be sixth in line to the throne from the very outset the queen's first granddaughter was marked out for an untraditional royal life firstly in her name zara is quite untraditional it's an unusual choice um for a royal name zara lives up to her name which means bright as the dawn and i think it was a very imaginative suggestion that came from ireland's favorite brother prince charles i suppose the very naming of zara with such an unusual and in many ways unroyal name perhaps set the precedence for a remarkably unroyal life which is what zara's enjoyed when you look at it um decided very early on um that that her children would not be public figures in the way that she was the key to understanding everything that follows comes back to this the decision by princess anne that her children would not inherit royal titles no hrh for peter and zara it's called dash dash and you know what's the word you use when you're a cross dash it comes out frankly well it's a dog's name zara was the first royal granddaughter in 500 years to be born without a title according to the 1917 letters patent her children weren't eligible for a title because they're in the female line so monarch's daughter is a princess but a monarch's granddaughter through the female line is not a princess this could have been resolved if zara's father had been given a title but it seems anne wasn't keen when she was marrying captain mark phillips it was highly likely that the queen would offer him an earldom looking ahead having been offered a period no could you accept one if you were offered one well that's a hypothetical question and i don't talk about it it was anna at the time her husband captain mark phillips decision not to take those titles this was no small decision unlike her cousins beatrice and eugenie zara would not be a princess no curtsying no honours but crucially much more freedom the decisions meant that the children were going to be relieved of any kind of royal responsibility much more of anne's life as a child was public than zara's life as a child anne was very conscious that she wanted her kids to have a slightly more sheltered upbringing than she'd had and if you speak to either zara or peter they will also tell you that not having the burden of titles has enabled them to live ordinary lives and although her background was privileged living a lovely estate in the country it's not a super privilege as living in in palaces and's next big decision gave zara a life and freedom the princess royal could only have dreamt of for herself while anne's early schooling took place privately at buckingham palace she was determined to ensure that zara's early education was much more down to earth it was a decision jointly made by anna and mark that they would send their children first of all to the local village primary school mitch in hampton and choice of secondary school for zara was also a surprise zara would be sent to gordenstein a tough demanding boarding school in scotland famed for its cross-country runs and cold showers not a school associated with young princesses the gordon choice is quite an interesting one but i think that's probably because princess anne detected in both her children that they were very outgoing and sort of outward bound sporting characters a far cry from anne's own experience at 13 she was sent to bernandon a genteel and very posh boarding school for girls these two decisions no title and gordenstein set zara on her path sporty resilient and happy had anne paved the way for her daughter to fulfill her first dream zara's potential as a world-class sports woman was developed they really allowed her to flourish [Music] when her daughter zara was just 13 years old princess anne sent her to gordon school despite anne's brother prince charles describing it as hell on earth [Music] is not for everybody prince charles of course is famous for saying that he loathed his time in this scottish boarding school i don't think it's a school where a very sensitive and creative person should go but you know the best way in the world peter and zara are not creative in that particular way they're much more sporting types and so they i think did prosper and rather enjoyed it up there zara and peter actually had very positive very happy experiences there princess anne couldn't attend gordenstein the school only began offering places to girls in 1972 but anne was adamant that zara would go to the school she may have longed to join knowing it played to all zara's strengths they concentrated very much on the open air life there was a lot of sporting activity zara's potential as a world-class sports woman was not only recognized but developed they really allowed her to flourish she loved boarding she did well at her a-levels host school prince hassan was thrust into life as a working royal but she had other ideas for her own children she could see zara's potential and she wanted to push her to reach her goals that she couldn't because of royal protocol zara has certainly had more latitude than her mother she's able to be just a little bit more relaxed she's always had to make her own way in life and probably had a much easier time than those that are closer to the throne and are are given titles and do have to operate as members of the royal family anne's early decision not to secure a royal title for her daughter meant zara had choices that she never had like mother like daughter zara was showing signs of excelling on the junior equestrian circuit not having that hrh title not being a full-time working member of the firm means that she's had a lot more freedom and a lot more opportunity than her mother ever did among all the qualities that zara and anne have in common uppermost is their enduring love of horses it's impossible to overestimate the importance that horses have been in in the princess's life the british royal family have to be the horsiest family in the country uh it's almost like they're pre-programmed to come out loving horses as part of their genetic makeup zara as with every child born into the royal family would probably have sat on a horse for the first time before she can remember now in that family you learn to walk and then you learn to ride you start on a shetland pony and then you move on to a slightly bigger pony that's probably quite badly behaved and stomps on your toes occasionally pony club puts a huge emphasis on horsemanship so it's not just can you ride well it's can you look after your pony can you do the dirty jobs they'll be on the road every week you know through the season and it's quite simply a lot easier to get up and drive your horses to the events ride them finish and come home for both ann and zara these routines became second nature as horses developed into a professional passion and cemented their relationship with each other i think for ann and zara horses represent their freedom influenced by her mother's career zara would follow in anne's footsteps eventing comprises of three disciplines the dressage the cross country and the show jumping it's easy to forget because questionism doesn't seem so big now you don't see it on the telly all that much but anne was one of the leading and most famous sports women of her era even if she hadn't been a member of the royal family it would have been an incredibly impressive trajectory she became the european champion in 1971 and she was only 21 years old which is still an age that's eligible for young rider classes so in the grand scheme of things incredibly young in this sport and two very familiar faces were on hand to present the princess with her gold medal in the clip of that moment prince philip in particular is absolutely beaming clearly so incredibly proud those are occasions when the queen is present of course but she's i'm sure she would think she's present as a mother it was a very special moment that the queen was able to give the prize to her daughter and it wasn't a special favor prize her daughter had earned that prize but princess anne's european triumph was followed by a frustrating run of bad luck her horse suffered a tendon injury ruling her out of the munich olympics and there was more frustration the following year in 1973 when she was the defending european champion she fell off at the second fence at the kiev european championships then you have the press of course speculating well was she just a flash in the pan when she became european champion that pressure was brought to bear at the next european championships in 1975. after doing a very good dressage test and the media speculated that captain mark phillips had doped her horse before the test because they'd seen him give the horse a sugar lump when the horse was drug tested it was all clear but she'd had to go through the whole competition knowing that everyone was watching her and thinking are you cheating received her gold medal she finished in second place at the european championships and took home the silver medal she looks at that as being more of a significant accomplishment because at that point she'd had just about everything that can go wrong go wrong and she'd learn to deal with it in 1976 anne became the first member of the royal family to represent britain in olympic games riding goodwill in the montreal olympics of 1976 and she said it's a unique example in equestrian history where the queen had bred not only the horse but also the rider with a european champion mother and an olympic champion father it was no surprise when zara began to forge a fine equestrian career of her own zara unlike her mother had no conflicting royal responsibilities so she was able to throw herself completely into her riding career and anne was on hand to support her daughter underlining their unique relationship it was my decisions if i wanted to ride they never pushed me so um but when i did they very much back me up and you know they're both very knowledgeable unfortunately so they give you lots of advice yeah and criticism zara may not have been pushed into equestrianism but it was obvious that if she inherited her mother's ability without the constraints of royalty she could potentially go much further in the sport it was in the late 90s in her teens when she finished second in the pony club championships that the equestrian media and then the regular media really started to sit up and take notice zara won silva at the european young rider championships in austria in 2002 and made her senior breakthrough at the burley horse trials the following year where pippa funnel won the illustrious event in grand slam she'd already won badminton in kentucky and everyone was watching to see if she could get the third one and the biggest prize of all and zara was very nearly the rider to stop her from doing this a mistake in the show jumping cost her dear but for 22 year old zara making runner up at burley was a big step forward to finish second in such a high profile year that was really the moment where people realized that she was a serious contender unfortunately for zara an injury to her horse ruled her out of the 2004 olympic team 32 years after her mother had suffered the same fate getting it right for the olympics you being fit and your horse is is very often you know a game that can go wrong it's not just me who's had that problem before you know i think everyone on the team has had a problem in the past there are a lot of things that can go wrong with horses and a lot of very minor injuries that can put a horse out of contention for major competitions but zara quickly put her olympic disappointment behind her after that she started racking up the titles in 2005 she went to the european championships and became european champion she was a phenomenal talented young rider and her horse was very impressive and together they just made this uh you know amazing head zara had the chance to go one better the following year at the world championships in germany but she arrived in arkhan in a state of shock just before zara went to arkhan for the world championships one of her best friends shirelle duke had what should have been a very innocuous fall at a one day event she fell and then the horse rotated over and landed on top of her causing grievous injuries that she unfortunately didn't survive that was one of her best friends a girl that she'd gone on holidays with in the off season they were very close she actually wasn't able to attend cherelle's funeral her brother attended in her stead because the funeral was held while she was already in germany remarkably zara kept her focus and went into the final event in the lead zara went into the arena with a german audience screaming so loudly that she lost her bearings for a moment didn't realize that the clock had started and so lost seconds off her time show jumping around but as she crossed the finish line and looked at the clock she realized that she'd scraped it she'd manage the win she was the world champion cameras covering the competition managed to capture the raw emotion that was on display in this moving footage a world away from the eventing arena in a star-studded glitzy tv broadcast we learned just how much zara had touched public hearts and the bbc sports personality of the year for 2006 is zara phillip to rapturous applause from the studio audience zara followed in her mother's footsteps to become the second royal family member to win bbc sports personality of the year people just voted you know again and again and again and in their droves because you know it was it was really important that she won because it caused global interest in equestrianism and a lot of the phone invokes seem to be coming from buckingham palace 35 years earlier the award ceremony looked like a smaller more intimate affair but the achievements of both women were plain to see yeah i think it probably made them realize that i wasn't just kind of playing around with it and it was serious and it's hard work and you know hopefully they have seen that but olympic success continued to elude zara after her horse toy town was again injured before the 2008 games in beijing her olympic debut would have to wait until london 2012. the games which princess anne had been so instrumental in securing for the capital the london olympics which obviously was a an enormous occasion for her to be a part of it's all getting much closer and everyone's getting more excited and zara wasn't there just for the ride jubilee year the queen's granddaughter zara phillips and her teammates were handed their silver medals by her mother princess anne made everything's worth it and you know we did a good job and we've got an olympic medal you know not many people could say that obviously it's amazing it was amazing anyway so let's get it from your mum relationship during this time just grew stronger and anne's early decision to allow zara more freedom outside the royal family had paid off zara had achieved something and never managed well they all rode brilliantly they won the olympic silver team medal things went well for us as well winning the team gold zara and i had a great time afterwards and you know i was obviously happy for her we took a boat up the thames with with lots of the team members and friends and family and we just had a fantastic night you know going up the town sat on a boat drinking laughing and just remembering you know how great the last couple of weeks had been zara's career has already long outlasted anne's and despite approaching 40 with no competing royal responsibilities to cut it short it could go on and on tanning 40 is very young in the the equestrian industry there are many riders who don't even begin to be known on the international circuit until they're the age that zara is now her father of course was awarded the silver olympic medal on his 40th birthday by princess anne some riders are winning medals much later on in their careers like in their 40s and you know as we've seen with nick skelton at rio even you know like coming towards 60. with zara expecting her third child this year the postponed olympics due to take place this summer are off the radar but future success is still very much on the cards just because r is now in her 40th year uh certainly doesn't mean that perhaps she'll be slowing down even for the next 10 years her top was at the moment is class affair who has just turned 12 years old so 12 years old is very much a little bit like 40 for riders the time at which we start to see them step into their peak it's still quite young the 2024 olympics which will be in paris would be probably on onsara's agenda and wouldn't be out of the question i'm sure her time will come again she's she's just way too talented um and too young really to think that she won't be back at the top next from horses to husbands while anandzara bonded over life on the equestrian circuit they had very different approaches to their love lives one was duty bound to have one of the biggest weddings of the 70s and probably thought the whole wedding was a necessary evil the other was free to marry in a way that suited her i think that was a prime example of the freedom that comes with being a non-titled member of the royal family young and single zara entered adulthood able to reap the benefits of freedom and the trust given to her by her mother it was a stark contrast to anne who at her age was tied down by both royal duties and around the clock police protection i think sarah had a lot of fun in her youth certainly she loved to party zara's brother peter said she always liked being at the center of anything fun and boisterous yes her parents really encouraged her to lead a full and happy and successful civilian life but unfortunately things didn't always go so smoothly i think zara is very much like her mother in that she is she is a free spirit um and she is you know she's had some quite colorful boyfriends in the past i suppose her biggest romance was with a fellow jockey richard johnson and this was quite a tempestuous quite a fiery relationship just like her mother zara liked her men to love horses in 1998 she fell for a 21 year old national hunt star not long later zara moved in with richard johnson something that would have been unthinkable for her princess mother to have done with a boyfriend zara had a reputation for being a bit of a royal rebel doing things differently not really caring what anyone thought about what she did zara was one of the first younger members of the royal family to be able to live with a significant other without being married despite the freedom that zara enjoyed she couldn't completely escape the press speculation about the state of her relationship you'd often see pictures of them out together and kissing pictures i suppose further fueled that reputation for zara as being a bit of a bit of a wild royal because they were both sort of celebrities in their own right in terms of the sporting world they attracted an awful lot of attention he went to a public school came from family with a great deal of land but you know they you know a very valid volatile character and they also attracted attention because they tended to have very public spats which is something as a member of the royal family you would avoid at all costs and in january 2001 a row spilled over into the street royal rebel zara phillips is in trouble again after brawling with her boyfriend in public police were called to break up the fight between the queen's granddaughter and her boyfriend here on the right jockey richard johnson neighbors heard a huge ruckus and it turned out that richard and zara were having a huge blow richard was said to have pulled zaru from the car and knocked her to the floor it was later said to be an overreaction that's of course how things are always described and zara and richard stay together but um of course that meant that zara was tabloid fodder for quite some time one of the big problems the royal families had got much worse in recent years is the way that the press treat them because certainly if you go back to the beginning of the reign everybody was very much more deferential and much more cautious but that's all changed of course and may have tried to protect zara from the scrutiny of being a full-time royal but she could never protect her totally from scandal now i'm sure she was read the riot act by her mother following that because it ended up on the front pages of the newspapers in turn that reflects on the institution of monarchy so zara most definitely would have been reminded of who she is and who she represents by extension of being the queen's granddaughter but i think it really sort of shows zara's tenacious side but that christmas she and richard were back in the spotlight again this time for a controversial cuddle worth 125 000 pounds princess anne's daughter zara phillips has been accused of being the latest royal to cash in on her status zara had a reputation in the press for being a bit of a rule breaker and she certainly did do things that sparked controversy one of those things was agreeing to do a deal with hello magazine with richard this was the couple inviting the cameras into their cotswolds home a cozy 13-page posed photo spread showed them lying together in each other's arms in front of the fire and although the focus was supposed to be on the couple all eyes were on princess anne's daughter public criticism tabloid headlines these were exactly the kind of things anne had tried to protect her daughter from had her attempt to give zara a more normal life backfired it all felt very celebrity and not particularly royal and would have just reminded zara of her responsibilities but at the same time she allowed her to make her mistakes it might just trickle princess anne that here were her children then invading their own privacy by inviting the cameras into their home anne must have known from bitter experience that with freedom came responsibility but perhaps she also recognized in zara something of her younger self when anne was younger she had that reputation for being a bit of a wild child it was a bit of the attitude that zara has as well a bit of can do and don't care and clearly understood just how intrusive the press could be when dealing with the private lives of the royal family her love life generated a lot of interest and i suppose further fueled that image of her being a bit of a wild child which often got princess anne into hot water i mean her attitude to the press and in her younger days anne became known for her celebrated clashes with pushy journalists in the early days of anne's emerging onto the public scene of course it was a great battle with the press and actually she seemed to enjoy the battle i have to say she she gave equally as good as she'd gone [Music] and she also understood just how difficult relationships could be for royals in the spotlight has it been a great strain keeping it secret and indeed keeping it away from people like ourselves [Music] i think it has yes it became rather australian it's funny with ann you wouldn't really look at her and consider her a romantic but i think anne probably is something of a romantic she met her first husband in 1968 they met through the eventing equestrian circles and they got married in 1973. do you think you would have married out of a sense of duty no way one very brave reporter asked her at the time if she thought her marriage would be able to survive the pressures of royal life and she snapped back well it's got to hasn't it unfortunately it didn't the marriage was clouded by scandal zara was barely 18 months old as journalists dogged anne on a charity visit for save the children in africa at that time there were all kinds of rumors circulating about her love life what was happening with her marriage was her marriage breaking down there was so many rumors of infidelity which was visiting a number of different countries and the press tagged along because they just wanted the gossip they wanted the juice and they wanted to find out more about what was happening in anne's private life after public revelations of anne's infidelity and a love child fathered by mark they separated in 1989 and later divorced anne's first marriage had become an open nightmare she would never make that mistake again and she wouldn't let zara go through it either so perhaps it's no surprise that zara soon changed her mind about living her love life in public after five years of media publicity and her infamous hello spread in 2003 her on and off relationship with richard johnson finally came to an end enter england rugby player mike tyndall a grammar school boy from wakefield yorkshire zara met mike tyndall when she was in australia in the november of 2003 when england beat australia in the world cup she met this hard-drinking professional rugby playing guy and the chemistry between them was immediate they did exchange their private telephone numbers and when they got back he telephoned and asked her would she go out with him amazing to do that with a member of the royal family when you think about it even one without a title mike and zara's relationship unfolded very naturally and they had a beautiful foundation as friends first and i think that is what served them so well by april 2004 mike and zara were an item and zara introduced him to the family there was no wealth title or a horse in sight princess anne is totally non-judgmental but the fact that she he had achieved you know world cup winning fame you know in in the rugby world you know he was right up there in uh in her in her way because the princess loves rugby in contrast to zara her mother anne found happiness in a much more traditional figure her husband timothy lawrence was a query to the queen but with zara her normal life had allowed her to look further afield and mike was a welcome breath of fresh air if you think about the queen and the sort of people that were at her table in 1952 when she first became queen well now at easter and she has people like mike tyndall at the table who's a very different character from let's say the late duke of beaufort master of the horse a great keen huntsman at badminton etc by introducing mike tyndall into the family she's sort of showing how times change their relationship added a softer side into the somewhat stiff family dynamic you can't ever imagine anne hugging and kissing anybody zara on the other hand is very tactile she does like to hug and kiss her friends as a world-class athlete mike's work ethic was also just what zara needed the one thing that the family really loved was that he encouraged her to start taking her sporting talent seriously of course he was a big rugby player at the time captain of the england rugby team and here he was saying to zara well you know you can go after this you can do this and that's exactly what she did so i think the family will always be very grateful to mike for encouraging her to pursue that ambition i guess in a way mike tyndall really tamed zara's rebellious streak for all of mike's reputation for being you know hard living hard playing he he actually was a pretty sobering influence on zara they moved in together and seven years passed without drama and it was interesting when zara and mike got together they were in the tabloids oh hardly ever in 2011 in a year of wedding fever the queen's eldest granddaughter married at cannon gate kirk in edinburgh and in spite of the high-profile guest list it flew remarkably low under the radar how did zara the former rebel royal managed to avoid a media circus for her royal wedding i think 2011 was particularly interesting in terms of comparing what it means to be in different positions within the royal family on april 29th we had that epic full-scale royal wedding of william and kate just a couple of months later we get to july and there are zara and mike tyndall going through their nuptials in a much smaller much more low-key fashion the doors of the 17th century church were firmly closed to any cameras they looked very relaxed people remember they seen my tindal chewing gum he was criticized for chewing gum in public and i mean he was just getting rid of his own bridegroom nerves i imagine of course we had the uh the wedding of uh william kate at the same time and all the focus was on them as indeed it had to be and zara didn't mind that a bit i think that was a sort of prime example of of the freedom that comes with being a non-titled member of the royal family they invited 400 wedding guests modest compared to the party of prince william which numbered nearly two thousand zara's wedding would have been something that she herself obviously with mike tyndall they chose it and didn't have to fit into any particular royal category unlike princess anne who obviously had one of the well one of the really full royal weddings to mark phillips with carriage processions and westminster abbey and everything she didn't need the guest list of state dignitaries and and other members of other royal families she was able to have her and mike's friends it felt very much like a family wedding but one with plenty of nodes to tradition they were able to keep things really really personal but back in 1973 a 23 year old princess anne was forced to have a very different big day that was anything but personal it was of course the state occasion and everyone in the whole world and his wife were watching what 500 million were watching on tv as the only daughter of the queen and her first child to marry as a princess anne had no choice but to give the public what they wanted i suspect that princess anne probably thought the whole um wedding was a as it were a necessary evil would she have preferred a much smaller wedding yes i i think so it's quite something to have to share that with the rest of the world so when anne married for a second time to timothy lawrence in december 1992 it was attended by only 30 people the wedding was held at krathy church which is near the balmoral estate it's where the royal family chooses to worship when they're in residence at balmoral and just like her daughter zara's wedding no cameras were allowed inside the church it was very quiet but it was very peaceful but the locals in balater the local village just outside belmont castle all know the royal family and it was a very very very pleasant uh wedding ceremony and is not remotely interested in a fuss i think anne's second wedding was much more in keeping with her personality second time round and got the wedding she wanted perhaps paving the way for zara to have hers did anne's decision for zara early on allow her to be her true self free from expectations and royal constraints she was left on her own and to enjoy herself but there were pictures of her out in nightclubs and bars in sydney and just how similar are they when it comes to rebellious fashion choices she was the first member of the royal family to wear a mini skirt [Music] princess anne was born into her royal role but it was never something she wanted for her daughter by handing zara the freedom to be herself she created a unique bond between mother and daughter born out of trust and the determination not to be defined by title even if that did raise some eyebrows she did have a bit of a reputation of being a wild royal princess anne's daughter zara has joined keith from the prodigy and spice girl mel b by getting her tongue pierced it made front page in nearly every newspaper in britain just behind the queen mother princess anne's daughter zara who's reported to have a stud in her tongue nowadays and everyone was like a member of the royal family gets a tongue ring today i mean it wouldn't even it wouldn't be a byline it wouldn't it wouldn't be a foresaw or anything like that nothing whatsoever it's extraordinary really but it was a very daring thing for her to do she said to one of the newspapers or my parents would have been far more upset if i'd got a tattoo she made the decision to take a gap year so she spent several months in new zealand and australia and for the most part she was left on her own and to enjoy herself but there were pictures of her out in nightclubs and bars in sydney apparently she was bungee jumping in new zealand so i think she was doing what most kids do when they leave school going off and having a bit of a wild time and was considered rebellious in her younger days but her actions now seem tame in allowing zara extra freedoms was she giving her daughter a life she'd always wanted for herself and was was very much labeled a free spirit a bit of a wayward royal certainly by the press people were stunned when footage emerged when princess anne was only 19 and uh she was filmed driving a 52-ton chieftain tank across rugged terrain with her recent visit to a north sea gas rig the first member of the fair sex ever to be allowed on board one the princess must be getting used to setting precedence he's obviously willing to try her hand at anything that comes her way and that didn't make her a royal rebel but it certainly made her a woman who knew what she wanted to do in life zara phillips has shown uh the same level of determination in terms of she won't be told no i can't do something some of anne's early antics may have been daring but she paved the way for her daughter to blaze a far more daring trail especially for a royal shortly after returning from her travels in 2000 she was reported to have hosted an ann summers party at gatcom park pat's not wanting to conform the way people might expect her to as a member of the royal family but nonetheless having plenty of fun she was pushing the boundaries for a a young member of the royal family in those days not that anne didn't push boundaries in some ways herself her dress sense as a younger woman was viewed as bold she was the first member of the royal family to wear a mini skirt which was frowned on by a lot of other people outside the royal family but not from anybody inside of course that was definite trend setting and in 2003 22 year old zara could be similarly daring on a visit to royal ascot because unlike her mother she wasn't a princess so zara was quite bold and brave in her fashion statements she had an off the shoulder address with it sort of i think it was slightly off the shoulder but the thing that caught the attention was there's a split right up to her thigh in the late 90s or early naughties um the fashions could be quite naughty she'll try stuff and like every woman she gets it right and she gets it wrong and she should definitely be allowed that back in the early 70s zara's mother was similarly experimental she looked at the sort of fashion she was popping out at the time bright canary shift dresses you know um bold prince in the 70s you know um big colors statement hats but anne's fashion sense has become more conservative with age in part down to the requirements of her royal role something zara hasn't had to contend with it's his function over fashion and it's a princess royal doing a duty i think the reason she's worn the same hairstyle for so many decades is to make sure that the focus is on the work not on what she looks like as a full-time athlete her daughter has a similar approach zara's role zara's job is as a hard working top of her game equestrian that's her duty that's her priority and then there's a casual zara if she had a choice of what to wear i think she'd grab her jeans and be very very happy i think laura has a style and i think it's definitely more a modern woman than it is princess despite anne's fashion choices being somewhat dictated by her position they have made her something of an icon anne is called thrifty in her fashion sense because anne is a practical woman and it sees no sense in buying something and wearing it just once i think they call it in the royal family good old hanoverian housekeeping one thing she once said to me was a good suit can go on forever and famously mocked her own thrifty nature when asked about it by michael parkinson the press picked up on the fact that you arrived wearing the same suit they claimed as you were wearing in 1978. it's older than that she's got items in her wardrobe that are likely older than her children the fact she can still fit into them is remarkable if only i could get into things that i that i bought 30 years ago and the fact that she still looks good in them i think sends a really great great message she's a great champion for sustainable fashion with more than 500 royal engagements a year in her diary anne's fashion choices have become her uniform for carrying out a role she was born to do her vocation her calling her duty was always to be the princess royal it is a life of service but something which she has always accepted princess anne has inherited from her parents this profound sense of duty absolute sense of duty and indeed her dedication to public life overrides everything zara equally has put in in a much quieter way if you like in a much less public way she is just as devoted to the queen while anne liberated her from a life of full-time royal duty there are still some occasions when zara will put in an appearance who exactly is a member of the royal family and there are two ways of looking at that there is a very uh clear-cut list of who the members of the royal family are and those are the ones that appear in the court circular where zara is obviously a granddaughter of the queen and very close to her and a very close member of the family and will appear at a great number of family occasions she is not really technically a member of the royal family as such the appearance is on the balcony drooping the color of course there's the christmas day walk to church there's the easter walk to church you will occasionally see zara doing the odd duty like perhaps handing out a cup of cheltenham she may not be an official royal but zara is clearly at the very heart of the younger windsor family william and harry the closest cousins that zara has got in within the royal family lost their mother about comparatively early age back in 1997 um zara seemed to grow even closer to them not long after diana died they the prince of wales decided they should all go on a skiing holiday in january 1998 the world's press descended on closters germany for a photo call zara was sort of would try to trip them both up and she'd throw snowballs and they'd they'd have a she was there to take the focus off them take the pressure off they used to hate those photo calls but with zara everything is more fun because she's so gregarious she's great to have around because of her positive energy and her zest for life she was a huge help to enormous help to those two and william in particular i think um has always had a huge huge affection for zara william is quite serious by nature he's actually quite shy zara is sort of the comedy cousin that you can turn to where she takes the pressure off of everything and so that friendship is so authentic there are dozens of photos of william and zara together over the years uh laughing joking uh there are times there's one time where prince william was holding an umbrella over zara he was protecting her from the rain i think he feels very protective towards her and she feels equally protective of him and zara has continued to support the family especially william from the sidelines for william in particular trust is everything so when you've got a cousin who understands what it is to be a member of the royal family but they don't have the same pressures associated to it they can be a tower of strength and support in october 2013 william made zara god parent to george his first son and future king it's zara's total loyalty and dedication to her family that has made her such an asset to the cousins that have had to endure the negative side of royal life she may not have a title because of her mother's early decision but zara has an integral role with those closest to the future of the crown but what about her own children hazara's freedom from royal expectations allowed her to discuss things that others might not the loss of of their baby um was certainly one of the most personal things that zara has ever spoken about it's unusual for a royal to open up the way that she did even as a new mother anne was required to travel the world as a princess and leave zara and her brother behind with a nanny zara's comparatively normal life means her own children do not have to compete with royal duties i suppose mia and leina tyndall have really got that full-time hands-on parental experience that zara and peter weren't able to have and princess anne certainly didn't have um again expectations change generations change but this is another one of the major pluses that comes with the freedom of being an untitled member of the royal family i think she's been very modern in in her approach to parenting zara was encouraged and supported by a progressive mother but she's chosen to take it one step further opening up about her personal struggles with motherhood she shared the news of her miscarriage which will have been devastating charities have welcomed the queen's granddaughter zara tyndall it revealed she had a second miscarriage before having her second dorset last month she previously had a miscarriage in 2016 and in an interview with sunday time she said you need to go through a period where you don't talk about it because it's too rural speaking of the first miscarriage she added for me the worst bit was that we had to tell everyone everyone knew her honesty on an emotive subject like miscarriage showed a personal approach from the famously stoic family it's unusual for a royal to open up the way that she did and she did it because she felt that it was important um she she wanted to talk about miscarriage and i suppose in doing so try and break down some of the the stigma around the subject she was able to really speak to a broad cross section of society and i think people really admired her bravery in that moment she will open up and she she's opened up about quite personal and private matters in a way that you know anne would never do there were different expectations for anne when she was both a mother and a representative of monarchy but she still had a strong influence on zara's parenting today actually you know she's probably looked not too far from how she was raised in terms of using that as a template zara returned to the gatkam estate in gloucestershire to bring up her children where she grew up out of the spotlight but it also brought her nearer to her mother and is a sign of the closeness of their relationship i think what's really lovely is that both zara and peter have stayed very close to home they both live on the estate with their mother and and princess anne spends a lot of time with them the weekends are spent taking the children for pony rides and long walks around gatkam actually has a running farm on it as well she's a good mother and she's actually a very affectionate grandmother which i think surprises quite a number of people anne's affection for zara and now zara's children has always defined their relationship it's a unique mother and daughter bond that has existed since she was born when zara was born i could see princess anne was absolutely besotted and i was surprised and she really was besotted with this dear little baby girl in this way and i've always felt that she was so affectionate towards zara and the way they seem to react with each other certainly in public is not a mummy and daddy uh mummy and child sort of thing it really is more like accessible in that way so it is a unique and very close and very strong relationship i've never heard that princess anne and zara didn't get on well together i think they've always had lots of mutual interest and great um and great respect for each other anne has always shared a uniquely close relationship with her mother too i think the queen views anne as someone she can totally depend on there is so much trust and loyalty that exists between them in 1982 after michael fagan broke into her bedroom in buckingham palace it was anne that the queen looked to for comfort to find this man sitting bleeding from his cut thumb on her bed she must have been distressed when it was all over the first person she spoke to was princess anne it was mother to daughter woman to woman the queen anne and now zara are part of a line of strong royal women mothers and daughters bound not only by duty but by love these winds are women are very very close it's a very very powerful matriarchy the women have been the key to the success of the institution the key to the way that it reinvents itself together the combination of ann and zara has become a force to be reckoned with breathing life into the firm for the years ahead they are both very determined very ambitious women they both cut their own path in life princess anne was very much a trailblazer in many many ways she has a lot of firsts to her name and although anne turned 70 last year she continues to build on what she's achieved for her family we know that there's longevity in the royal family and and it shows no sign of slowing down she's still um a in lockdown here she slowed down a bit but but until then still four to five hundred engagements a year everybody who who gets her absolutely thrilled to have her because she's hugely supportive zara has shown us how the royals have evolved and how being liberated from any official role can lead to the model modern royal i think it's probably inevitable that in years to come we are not going to see a royal family as we have today so i think it's important in the royal family whether you have a title or not that that you have a constructive role princess anne and her influence led zara to live a much freer life and perhaps a life that anne would have preferred for herself zara is an absolutely perfect example of a non-working member of the royal family who gives back to the community who is present for her family and yet she's also proven herself on her own merits she's worked really hard she hasn't expected any kind of handouts she's added a certain amount of celebrity of course and a great deal of glamour but having lived a life without a title she's also struck a balance between relatability and royalty being a member of the royal family having a private life but also using her position for good and it's not easy to achieve ann broke the mold to give her daughter freedom to push the boundaries in every aspect of her life one thing has always struck me about the similarity between mother and daughter and zara is their independence of spirit and together mother and daughter have shown you can merge duty lineage and ambition to do what you want i only wish if there could be a blueprint for future generations on how to find that balance and how to live a non-royal life in a royal world zara tindale's it we should expect to see more royals like zara in years to come [Music] it's the royal family feud that's made headlines harry and megan versus the monarchies

Channel: laduchesse

Views: 494,828

Keywords: princess anne, princess royal, zara phillips, zara tindall, british royal family, royalty, the crown, netflix, meghan markle, prince harry, duchess of sussex, oprah, documentary, royal, queen elizabeth ii, the queen, trump, prince william, kate middleton, olympics, equestrian, love, timothy laurence, tim laurence, mark phillips, affair, erin doherty, mother, mothers day, mike tindall, mia tindall, lena tindall, peter phillips, racing, horse, horse racing, richard johnson, team gb

Id: 93C1nQzS2us

Length: 55min 33sec (3333 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 27 2021