Princess Anne's role in King Charles' coronation reflected their "very close" bond, her daughter has explained.
Princess Anne in King Charles' coronation procession
The Princess Royal took up a position on horseback behind her brother and Queen Camilla's gold coach to lead 6,000 service personnel in the procession back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey on Saturday (06.05.23) and Zara Tindall explained her mother's post as Gold-Stick-in-Waiting was a "nice" moment of recognition from the king.
She told People magazine: "It's a busy time for them all, and her and her brother are very close, so it's a nice thing to do."
It was particularly fitting for Anne to be on horseback for the procession because the creatures are a huge passion for the 71-year-old princess - who was the first royal to compete in the Olympics when she took part in the equestrian three-day event in 1976 - as well as for her daughter and the late Queen Elizabeth.
Zara - who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics - said: "Our horses are in our family, so there's always discussions about performances and things like that. There's horses in her life, and she does a bit of breeding as well. So there's always horse conversation going on."
Anne previously joked her role in the coronation ceremony had an added bonus of her not needing to worry about what to wear.
She told CBC News ahead of the crowning: "I have a role as the Colonel of the Blues and Royals in the Household Cavalry regiment as Gold Stick [in Waiting]. And Gold Stick was the original close protection officer. So that is a role I was asked if I'd like to do for this coronation, so I said yes.
"Not least of all, it solves my dress problem."
More seriously, she reflected, "There is so much in that [coronation] service which you really have to do, that is fundamentally important, and is the meaning of the coronation in every way. It's not just a big ceremony. It is a very essential part of the responsibilities of the crown."
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