Princess Anne has to cope with injuries related to her lifelong love of horses and riding.
The 73-year-old Princess Royal, considered certainly one of Britain's most experienced horse riders, remained in hospital on Monday after suffering minor injuries and a concussion at her Gatcombe Park estate in southwest England over the weekend.
The head injuries correspond to an impact with the legs or head of a horse. a source told the Daily Beast. However, in keeping with the Daily Beast, it’s unclear whether Anne was riding or walking near horses when she was injured.
Nearly 50 years ago, Anne suffered a concussion on the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. As a member of the British team, she was riding a horse named Goodwill, owned by her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and suffered a serious fall when the horse became stuck in swampy mud. The Telegraph reported.
“The lights went out for me,” Anne said of the autumn in her autobiography, “Riding Through My Life,” reported The Telegraph. If the horse hadn't fought to remain upright, she said, “I wouldn't be here now.”
Anne, who began riding on the age of three, still managed to get back up, mount the horse and finish the race, although she admitted in her book that she “almost doesn't remember” that day, The Telegraph reported. She also said her brothers teased her that her performance had improved after the autumn. “We should give you a whack on the head before the start next time!” they joked.
In the twenty first century, concussions are not any longer a laughing matter, and Anne's doctors appear to be taking her latest injury quite seriously, so seriously that they must keep her within the hospital.
The Telegraph reported that Anne remained at Southmead Hospital in Bristol on Monday “as a precautionary measure” but is predicted to make a full recovery quickly. She is “awake and conscious,” it said.
There isn’t any information yet on whether Anne was alone on the time of her injury or who called the emergency services, The Telegraph reported. However, Anne's husband, Sir Tim Laurence, and their children, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, were present on the property.
It just isn’t known how long Anne will remain within the hospital, but her scheduled appointments for the remainder of the week have been postponed on the recommendation of her doctors, the Daily Beast reported.
That means she won't be flying to Canada for a planned visit later this week, a source told the Daily Beast. Anne also won't attend a state banquet for Emperor Naruhito of Japan on Tuesday, which can otherwise go ahead as planned.
Unfortunately, Anne's injury comes at a sensitive time for the royal family. She is the most recent member of the family to face a health crisis, as each the King and Catherine, Princess of Wales are being treated for cancer. Anne has turn into a key member of Charles's “slimmed down” monarchy, representing him at events while he undergoes his treatment.
Just last week, she rode alongside Prince William and Prince Edward at Trooping the Colour, an event that Charles would normally attend. The Olympic rider earned particular praise for calmly controlling an agitated horse named Noble, the New York Post reported.
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