Princess Anne's Scariest Horse Riding Accidents

It's no secret that Princess Anne and other notable members of the Windsor family have enjoyed horseback riding for years. Queen Elizabeth II fell in love with the sport from the first moment that her grandfather, King George V, took her to the stables. She showed so much enthusiasm that the king bought her a Shetland pony named Peggy for her fourth birthday. From there, Elizabeth would go on to develop a lifelong passion for racehorses.

As a mother, Elizabeth was not known to be particularly hands-on, but she did makes sure that her only daughter, Anne, had the chance to explore the joys of riding. By the age of 11, the young princess was known to gallop across palace grounds. As she got older, Anne began to participate in equestrian competitions, guiding her horses over natural obstacles and tricky terrain as well as artificial jumps. Her former rival, Clare Balding, told the Daily Mail that she was as much of a competitor as anyone else. In the locker rooms, "she changed alongside us and did not expect any special treatment," Balding said.

During competitions, though, Anne stood out for her fearlessness. Over the years, she attempted some truly challenging jumps — and even got the chance to compete at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. That being said, Anne's bravery often bordered on daring, if not reckless, and she fell off her horses many times — both at home and during competitions.

Princess Anne has always harbored a passion for horseback riding, but that doesn't mean she hasn't suffered an injury or two along the way. In 1964, when she was still studying at Benendon School in Kent, Anne took a horse out for a ride — only to end up in a sticky situation. 

As reported by the Daily Mail, the princess accidentally tangled her finger in the rein. The leather straps suddenly tightened, and a bone in Anne's finger cracked. She was rushed to King Edward VII Hospital, where she received treatment for her injury. During recovery, the princess wore a sling.

Interestingly, Anne did not allow that particular incident to deter her from pursuing the sport — proving that the Princess Royal is a total boss. She returned to riding almost as soon as she could. As Anne would later reveal in an interview for Vanity Fair, horseback riding became an important part of her life, as it permitted her to excel at something beyond the rules of protocol. "I thought if I was going to do anything outside of the royal family, horses was likely to be the best way of doing it," she explained. 

As Princess Anne grew older, her riding abilities only become stronger. Before long, she realized that she wanted to ride competitively, and by 1973, she qualified to compete in the European Equestrian Championships. On September 9, Anne and her trusty steed, Goodwill, made an appearance in Kiev, Ukraine, where they hoped to bring home the gold. To their disappointment, things did not exactly end up that way.

Footage from the event shared by AP Archive shows Anne and Goodwill barreling down a hill on a particularly difficult part of the course. The terrain was rocky and uneven, but it seemed like no match for the princess and her horse. All that changed, however, when Anne and Goodwill arrived at a particularly wide jump. The horse tripped, and Anne was slammed into the ground. Luckily, Anne was well enough to get back up on her feet and, despite limping, walk the last quarter-mile of the course. In spite of this moment of valiance, she and Goodwill were disqualified. 

Goodwill — who would eventually accompany Anne to the Olympics in Canada — was not necessarily the right horse for this type of event. As the princess would eventually tell Vanity Fair, "The original horse I rode was bred as a polo pony and should never have been an event horse, but it worked, so that was very satisfying. But I always knew it was going to be limited time."

Although Princess Anne and Goodwill made a good team, she also rode other horses in competitions. In 1975, the enthusiastic equestrian mounted a horse by the name of Mardis Gras, and together the pair attempted a challenging course on the edge of the River Avon. As reported by the New York Times the following year, "Mardi Gras is not one of the princess' regular horses." That was, unfortunately, evident when the two attempted a tricky jump by the water. The horse took a spill, and Anne was thrown into the river.

The incident was made particularly dramatic by the British papers, which published the tale in the next day's papers. According to her teammates, however, Anne generally did a good job of ignoring all the press about her. As her former eventing peer, Lucinda Green, would later tell The Telegraph, "I always admired the way she coped with the press. That added the most unbelievable pressure on top of trying to do her sporting best. Tough for her, but she put our sport on the map and kept it in the spotlight."

Riding a horse by one's self is tricky enough. But, when there are multiple horses and riders wandering the same grounds, things can get straight-up complicated. Princess Anne and her now-ex-husband Mark Philips discovered this firsthand in October 1975 when they both set out to compete in the same cross-country event. As reported by the New York Times at the time of the incident, "Princess Anne's horse collided with a horse ridden by her husband, Captain Mark Philips." While it must have been terrifying for the both of them, as the princess was reportedly thrown from her horse, Anne was thankfully unharmed.

Throughout their marriage, Anne and Mark shared a passion for all things equestrian. In a 1980 interview with television icon, Michael Parkinson, the royal couple were asked if they were "horse-mad." As per the Express, Parkinson even went so far as to ask them, "Of course, you are portrayed in the popular image as being horse-mad and this is supposed to be the common thing that brought you together. Would this be true?" Mark and Anne laughed off the comment, assuring the presenter that they weren't as wild about horses as they might have seemed. 

In April 1976, things seemed to be going well for Princess Anne. Her many hours of tireless training for the Olympic Games in Montréal had been paying off, and she had grown confident on even the most difficult courses. Although she had not officially cinched a spot on the British National Team, she was expected to make the cut. Just five years prior in 1971, she had already received the title of European Champion. She had also garnered recognition as the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.

Because of this, it was a surprise to crowds at the Portman Horse Trials when the princess and her horse, Candlewick, got into a terrible accident. During a rural course, rider and mount were both thrown to the ground. Candlewick then proceeded to roll over, accidentally crushing the princess beneath its weight, according to the Daily Mail.

Anne lost consciousness and endured a broken vertebra, leaving fans to wonder if she would recover in time for the Olympic Games. However, per the New York Times, she improved quickly. Just one month after the incident, the publication reported, "Princess Anne ... looked fit and confident after recovering from a spinal injury suffered last month."

In 1976, Princess Anne made history at the Olympics when she rode the queen's horse, Goodwill, through a challenging course in Montreal. She became the first British royal to ever compete in the world-famous international competition — and she made quite the appearance.

Riding Goodwill on the world's stage, Anne managed to look elegant and graceful as she guided her mount over a number of difficult jumps. Unfortunately, though, Goodwill's foot became lodged in mud at a crucial moment. The princess was subsequently thrown to the ground, which caused her to suffer a head injury. "It was going very well," she later said, "and then I don't remember anything else. Nothing at all" (via Daily Mail). Despite her injury, Anne rode on. Jane Holderness-Roddam, the princess' former lady-in-waiting, later revealed to ITV, '[Anne] was that concussed that she couldn't remember — and still to this day I believe can't remember — the rest of the course" (via Daily Mail).

At least one of Anne's former teammates attributed the fall to the fact that Goodwill was a difficult horse to ride — even for an experienced equestrian. As her competition peer, Lucinda Green, would later reveal in a conversation with The Telegraph, "She was extremely brave and good enough to get on the British team on two very different horses. Goodwill, her horse in Montreal, was not easy. He was big and had no brakes – I definitely wouldn't have ridden him."

In the 1980s, Princess Anne and her equestrian rival, Clare Balding, narrowly avoided a dangerous collision after the latter lost control of her horse. "During the race my horse Waterlow Park jumped over a path worn by pedestrians crossing the racecourse, propelling us unexpectedly towards the inside rail. As we veered across the course, I heard a voice yelling furiously behind me," Balding revealed in her book, "My Animals And Other Family," as an excerpt in the Daily Mail detailed.

In that same article, Balding said that a rider near her screamed, "What the hell are you doing? Watch out! Watch out!" Terrified, the person proceeded to unleash a series of curse words. When she arrived at the finish line, Balding realized that the woman behind her was Princess Anne.

Even after the race was over, Balding found herself rife with nerves. "I took a while pulling up, partly to allow time for the result to be called, and partly because I was scared," she wrote. "Whether I had lost or won I knew that I was in trouble, as my mother made clear in the paddock. 'What the hell were you doing?' she asked in an urgent whisper. 'You nearly brought down Princess Anne.'" Indeed, Balding would later cop to having very "nearly killed" the Princess Royal.

In 1982, Princess Anne set off to the Badminton Horse Trials with her horse, Stevie B. Although Badminton was famous for challenging riders with some of Britain's most difficult terrain, Anne felt ready to prove her abilities. She had already earned five medals at the competition during the 1970s and was looking forward to bringing home even more. Sadly, though, Anne's aspirations ended in disaster when Stevie B approached a particularly difficult jump that was supposed to end in the shallows of a lake. Both horse and rider tumbled into the water, and Anne was drenched from head to toe. 

Despite the terrifying incident, the princess remembered Badminton as one of her favorite courses. In a video commemorating the course's 75th anniversary, Anne marveled, "Horses had to be pretty brave at what they did." She went on to add: "It's really interesting because, I mean, it is a very different sort of a course than the sort of courses I was riding, and I find it fascinating." 

Although Princess Anne eventually retired from competitions, she never stopped loving — or riding — horses. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Princess Royal was known for riding her favorite mounts across palace grounds. In 2008, however, a casual day of riding went terribly wrong when Anne was kicked by a horse. While she was not seriously injured, she was spotted relying on a walking stick in the following days.

At the time, a palace source told the Daily Mail that the princess was recovering quickly and that she had no intention of pausing her royal duties in light of the fall. As the anonymous individual revealed, "I understand she was kicked by a horse while at home at Gatcombe Park at the weekend. That said, very little stops the Princess Royal from conducting her duties, and she's got a packed program of engagements in Scotland this week. She's simply using the stick to take her weight of her injured leg, but shouldn't need it for too long."

Even as Princess Anne has aged, she has not taken a step back from horseback riding. Just two months shy of her 74th birthday, the Princess Royal attended Trooping the Colour, an annual event celebrating the honorary birthday of the sitting British monarch. Due to her equestrian accomplishments, Anne ride a horse during the celebratory parade instead of riding in a carriage. She seemed especially comfortable and confident on her trusty steed during the 2024 event, even when the horse became skittish.

Just days later, though, Anne had a major accident at her Gatcombe Park home. While on a casual evening ride, the Princess Royal was thrown from the back of her horse. Doctors have said that her injuries appeared consistent with some sort of collision with the horse's limbs or even its head, the Daily Mail reported.

Anne sustained a concussion in addition to a few minor injuries and has said that she does not recall what happened. As reported by the Daily Mail's Rebecca English on X, formerly known as Twitter, Anne said, "I can't remember a single thing about it." These words bring to mind Anne's inability to remember her fall at the 1976 Olympic Games. While the world may change, Anne's dedication to her sport remains consistent — no matter the risk.