British Royal Wedding

World eventing champion Zara Phillips’ horse had to be destroyed after a cross-country fall at the final event of the year in Pau, France, yesterday.

Phillips suffered a broken collarbone, but she did not go to hospital. Having been treated on site by the event’s medical team, she was later walking around, in some discomfort, with her arm in a sling.

The accident happened halfway around the course at fence 15, a hedge and one of the most innocuous-looking fences, where no other rider had problems.

Phillips’ horse, Tsunami II, stumbled on landing and somersaulted, throwing the rider clear. A veterinary examination showed that the 11-year-old chestnut mare had broken a neck vertebra.

“She was a very special horse and I had high hopes for her,” said Phillips. “Losing a horse like this is awful. I feel so sorry for Mel because she bred him.”

Read entire article at The Telegraph

Zara Phillips has emphatically denied rumours that she has secretly become engaged to her rugby star boyfriend Mike Tindall.

The Queen’s grand-daughter used a major TV interview to discount newspaper reports that the couple are making wedding plans.

But it is the subject of marriage to Mike that sees the feisty 27-year-old at her most animated in the ITV interview, broadcast yesterday on This Morning.

Before presenters Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton could even finish asking a question about their relationship, Zara interrupted, insisting: “I’m not getting married.”

“Apparently I am, but no, I’m not,” she said. Although she admitted that the couple, who share a cottage on her mother Princess Anne’s Gatcombe estate, were under a lot of pressure from rugby friends to tie the knot, they are not planning marriage just yet.

She explained: “Every time I go to a game everyone always asks: ‘When are you going to get married?’ But we are just happy both of us. We’re happy the way we are. He’s captain of Gloucester this year and we’re just trying to concentrate on our sports.”

Read the entire story at the Daily Express [video link for UK visitors]

Zara Phillips may have narrowly missed out on the Olympic Games – but she is still a winner.

Just two days before Beijing 2008 begins, she has been voted the British sportswoman who best combines achievement and glamour.

Athletes who will compete in the Games are not far behind, with cyclist Victoria Pendleton and heptathlete Kelly Sotherton claiming spots two and five respectively. Gold-winning legends Kelly Holmes and Denise Lewis take positions three and four.

Celebrity personal trainer Nicki Waterman, who oversaw the poll, said: “Between them the top five have won a host of honours, including three Olympic golds, three Olympic bronzes and two BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, and have done so while always looking their best.”

Zara, 27, was forced to withdraw from the Olympics after her horse, Toytown, was injured during training. (via Daily Express)

He just got married earlier this year yet it seems Peter Phillips is already trying out his skills with youngsters.

Princess Anne’s son showed he was child-friendly as he and wife, Autumn, enjoyed an eventing festival at the family’s Gatcombe Park home on Friday.

Joined by the Princess Royal, the couple were cheering on Peter’s younger sister, Zara, who was taking part in the event.

Putting on a brave face in the week she should have been jetting off to the Olympics, the pretty royal took part in the dressage section on her horse Tsunami II. (via Hello)

View Gatcombe Park Day 2 thumbnail photos here…

Zara Phillips has become the unlikely star of a a viral advertisement in which she is seen being chatted up by a swaggering footballer.

The Queen’s granddaughter, who is 12th in line to the throne, has teamed up with Land Rover to promote the British equestrian eventing team ahead of the Beijing Olympics next month.

Miss Phillips is free to use her royal status however she likes because she does not have a title – a decision taken by her mother Princess Anne in the hope that it would enable her children to lead more normal lives. (via The Telegraph)

Zara Phillips has agreed to appear in this autumn’s series of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, in a move that is likely to infuriate traditionalists in royal circles.

Miss Phillips, who is granddaughter to the Queen and 12th in line to the throne, has signed an early stage agreement to appear in ballroom dancing contest, to the delight of BBC bosses.

However a source close to Miss Phillips indicated that her involvement with the show may not go down well with everyone in the Royal Family. The source told Sunday Mirror: The Queen may have something to say about Zara appearing on a live TV show every Saturday. Many in royal circles will find it inappropriate.”

But the BBC hope Miss Phillips will boost viewing figures as they go head-to-head with ITV’s popular Saturday night reality contest, The X Factor.

Read the entire story at The Telegraph…

Royal Zara Phillips and rugby star boyfriend Mike Tindall are in talks to star in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

They are said to top the BBC’s wishlist for the ballroom dancing reality show.

Chiefs reckon horsewoman Zara, Princess Anne’s 27-year-old daughter, would add a dash of regal glamour to the series.

She and Mike, 29, would be only the second couple to compete on the show. A top telly source said: “The BBC are going all-out to get Zara and Mike to sign up. They could be real contenders.” (via The Sun)

‘If Kate Middleton wants to marry Prince William, she’ll get him’ – Telegraph
Kate Middleton has, according to royal watchers, been given the official status of ‘Girlfriend’. Creating ripples are the reports this week that Kate refused the Queen’s invitation to host her own table at the Royal Box during Ascot. “Insiders” have been quoted as saying that she did not want to be seen as a stand-in for Prince William or to look as if she was taking advantage of a dubious royal status…

Wedding Bells for Wills & Kate? – OK! Magazine
If the old adage “the couple that plays together stays together” is to be believed, then Prince William and Kate Middleton are a solid bet for the future. The lovebirds are often seen partying with friends as well as attending concerts and sporting events, and it’s this kind of foundation that leads many royal experts to believe that William and Kate will announce their engagement next spring…

Zara Phillips’ wedding a chance for punters to cash in – Daily Mirror
Hills, who make Zara a 4-7 favourite to be the next royal to marry, offer 6-4 she does NOT sell her wedding pics to Hello. Snap it up…

The Daily Mail’s, Katie Nicholl, is reporting that Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are secretly engaged and will marry in May 2009.

…She has been waiting patiently in the wings to tie the knot with her England rugby star boyfriend – and now I can reveal that Zara Phillips will finally marry Mike Tindall next spring.

Having watched Zara’s brother Peter wed last month, the Princess Royal’s only daughter and Tindall are planning their wedding for May and are already looking for venues.

‘Zara and Mike are secretly engaged but they won’t announce it till after the Olympics,’ says a close friend. ‘They can’t wait to get married. Zara loves St George’s Chapel and Frogmore, where her brother had his reception, but the logistics aren’t yet finalised.’ …

Read entire story at the Daily Mail…

Zara Phillips has given her biggest hint yet that she wants to marry the England rugby player Mike Tindall.

The Queen’s granddaughter said that the pair exchanged vows of love every day, adding that she was waiting for Tindall to pop the question.

“I’m old-fashioned. I think they should ask you,” she said. “Everyone at the [Gloucester] rugby club seems to be getting married and having babies so they keep asking me, ‘What about you?’ We tell each other we love each other every day.”

Asked in an interview for GQ Sport magazine if she thought she had sown her wild oats she said: “Yes – I think I have . . . ”

Ahead of her appearance at the Badminton Horse Trials this Thursday, Ms Phillips also said in the interview that she preferred being known as a horse rider rather than as a royal.

When asked if she would have done anything differently in her life if she were not a member of the Royal Family, she replied: “Yes . . . because I could have got away with more things. So it’s probably a good thing I am.”

She also praised her family members, adding that she and her brother Peter had been brought up “quite normally”. She added: “I think it’s better to be known as a horse rider than a royal. They are my family but it’s nice to be known for something else.” (via Times Online)