Zara Phillips is the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

It so happened that the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II was left without titles. She is simply Zara Phillips, seventeenth on the list among the heirs to her grandmother's throne. A beauty, an excellent athlete (world champion and Olympic silver medalist), and now just a mother of two charming daughters.

Origin

Zara Phillips (now better known by her husband's surname Tindall) was born on May 15, 1981 in London's Paddington area. The name, which means "bright" in Greek, was chosen by her uncle Prince Charles. Since the birth of a girl was like a "beam of light" for the royal family.

She is now considered one of the most popular members of the British royal family. However, unlike numerous relatives (cousins and cousins), the girl does not have an official title. Though her cousins Harry and William are princes and cousins Eugenia and Beatrice are princesses. The thing is that her mother is Princess Anna (daughter of the Queen), and according to ancient tradition, titles are passed down the male line. Father, Captain Mark Phillips (Princess's first husband) - 1972 Olympic championof the year in equestrian sports and winner of many other international tournaments.

Zara Phillips has a full-blooded older brother Peter Phillips and two sisters: Felicity Tonkin, daughter of her father's mistress, and Stephanie Phillips, born in Mark Phillips' second marriage.

On the British Crown's list of succession to the throne

The British monarch has the legal right to give the title to his daughter's children, and Queen Elizabeth suggested to Anna after the birth of the children to introduce them to the aristocracy. In addition, Mark was also offered the title of count upon marriage. However, all these proposals were rejected, Princess Anna insisted on this, who wanted to save them from the difficulties associated with the royal title. Despite the fact that Peter and Zara Phillips do not have titles, they are considered contenders for the throne. In this list, Peter is in fourteenth place, followed by his two daughters, and in seventeenth is Zara (she was sixth at the time of birth).

She is the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh. The second daughter of Zara Phillips - Lina Elizabeth Tindall, also without an aristocratic title, is listed nineteenth in the list of succession to the throne, and her older sister Mia Grace is eighteenth. Since they are all members of the royal family, they are required to behave impeccably.

Early years

Zara Phillips received a good education in Scotland, at an expensive private school in Gordonston, where her uncles, the princes, studied. The educational institution is famous in the countrywith its strict rules and a serious approach to learning. Much attention was paid to military and physical education, pupils often go on hikes and sea expeditions. The traditional practice is a system of punishments in the form of additional physical exercises. It was with these strict upbringing measures, for example, that the eldest son of Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, who also studied at Gordonston, was very dissatisfied.

During her studies, she represented her privileged school in competitions in many sports, including tournaments in hockey, gymnastics and athletics.

Love for horses

After graduating from high school, Zara Phillips took a year off to see the world before going to university. At this time, I managed to travel for three months in Australia and New Zealand. She graduated from the University of Exeter (like her brother Peter) in South East England with a degree in Equine Physiotherapist.

Love for these noble animals was instilled in her from childhood. After all, the parents met while participating in the races of the Olympic equestrian champion Mark Phillips. The princess's relatives did not like the relationship that arose at the hippodrome, which they called "a ridiculous misalliance." The queen even joked that she would not be surprised if they had children with four hooves. Zara Phillips did not have hooves, but since childhood she has loved horses, which have become an important part of her life forever.

Equestrian Achievements

Perhaps genes affected, but the biggest successesZara Phillips has achieved in equestrianism. In 2003, the British financial company Karton Index became an investor of the promising athlete, with whom she signed a sponsorship contract. Two years later, in 2005, she won first place on her horse Toytown in the individual and team championships at the European Eventing Championships in Blenheim, Germany.

A year later, she repeated her double success at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen (Germany). This victory brought Zara Phillips the high title of world champion, which she held until 2010. Unfortunately, at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, she failed to repeat her father's success. She only became a silver medalist.

Private life

Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips met at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. They were introduced by her cousin, Prince Harry. Mike was a Gloucester club player and captain of the England national rugby team. In December 2010, Buckingham Palace announced their engagement.

A year later, the wedding of Zara Phillips took place, the wedding was held at Canongate Church in Edinburgh. Since the solemn event took place only a few months after the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, there was no hype and excessive attention. Queen Elizabeth II described the wedding as a "wonderful occasion". Due to her continuing professional sports career, Zara decided to temporarilydon't change your last name. Now the couple has two children: Mia Grace was born in 2014, and Lina Elizabeth was born in 2018. Photos of Zara Phillips from various events constantly appear in gossip sections of the world's leading publications.