Princess Anne returns to royal duties for the first time since suffering concussion in horse-related accident as she attends riding event in Gloucestershire

Princess Anne has returned to royal duties for the first time since suffering a concussion in a horse-related accident. 

The Princess Royal was taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol last month after she was reportedly kicked by a horse at her Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire. 

The 73-year-old royal, a skilled horsewoman who competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, was going for a walk when the incident occurred. 

Emergency services were sent to the estate and, after being given medical care at the scene, Anne was transferred to hospital for tests, treatment and observation. 

Today, she was visiting the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire after recovering from her dramatic injury. 

The royal appeared in high spirits as she attended the event, smiling as she met members of the charity, which she has been a patron of since November 1971.

However, she appeared to be sporting a light bruise on the side of her face.  

Anne, often dubbed the ‘hardestworking royal’ for the sheer volume of public engagement she carries out each year, has been the RDA’s president since 1986.

Following her accident, she was forced to miss at least nine engagements, including a trip to Canada and a banquet for the Japanese State Visit in London last week. 

She has been a cornerstone in the King’s slimmed-down working monarchy, and has played a big role by stepping up in support of Charles amid his cancer diagnosis.

The Princess is known for her no-nonsense approach and her commitment to royal duty, and the King made a point of making public his ‘fondest love and well-wishes’ for his sister after her accident.

Anne is understood to have been taking an evening stroll on her estate with horses nearby when she was hurt.

The Princess was left with minor wounds to the head. Her medical team are understood to believe the injuries were consistent with a potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.

However, the full details of the accident have never been revealed. 

Her hospital stay highlighted how stretched the Royal Family is with the King and the Princess of Wales both being treated for cancer.

Anne’s husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and her children Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, were on the estate at the time she was injured.

An air ambulance was flown to the scene but not required to take Anne to hospital.

The royal was given treatment before being taken to Southmead Hospital for tests, treatment and observation, with Sir Tim by her side.

Her brother Charles was immediately informed but Anne’s engagements this week have been postponed on her doctors’ advice.

‘Her Royal Highness sends her apologies to any who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result,’ a royal spokesman said.

The Princess Royal is the hardest working royal in terms of annual engagements at a time when the King has cut back on events and Prince William has also taken time off to care for his wife. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have walked away from royal duties completely. 

A palace spokesman said Anne was ‘recovering well’ and in a ‘comfortable condition’. Subject to medical advice, she is expected to be able to return home later this week.

Anne’s concussion has meant precise details of the incident are unclear, but her medical team have said her head injuries were consistent with a potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.

It is not thought that any other individual was involved in the incident It is believed that palace officials have a ‘working hypothesis’ of how the Princess sustained her injuries. 

A royal spokesman added: ‘Her Royal Highness is receiving appropriate expert care. No further details are being shared at this stage.

‘Her Royal Highness will remain in Southmead Hospital unless or until her medical team advise otherwise. Sir Tim Laurence accompanied Her Royal Highness to hospital.’

The King’s sister remained in hospital for five days before she was allowed to leave, returning to her country home near Minchinhampton.

Her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, who visited her in hospital, said in a statement: ‘I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the team at Southmead Hospital for their care, expertise and kindness during my wife’s short stay.’

Earlier, Sir Tim said his wife was ‘doing fine, slow but sure’. He was seen carrying a cool bag as he revealed he had taken her a ‘few little treats from home’ during her hospital stay. 

Anne remained at Gatcombe for further rest and recuperation. It’s believed her return to public duty was given the green light by her doctors.

As well as missing out on a trip to Canada and joining the state banquet for the Japanese State Visit, Anne was forced to miss out going to Scotland to reopen the Kilmartin Museum in Lochgilphead, then take a trip to the Argyll and Bute Citizens Advice centre.

She is also listed to visit the Ardrishaig Community Trust on the same day. 

Other events listed in the royal’s busy diary included one in Gloucestershire, where she was expected to launch the New Design Guide as part of her role as patrol of the English Rural Housing Association. 

She had also listed in her role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Logistic Corps a visit to the Gurkha Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, Gloucestershire. 

Following her accident, former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer broke away from their election campaigning to send the Princess their best wishes for a speedy recovery.  

Princess Anne’s other horse riding accidents: From breaking finger as a schoolgirl to cracking vertebra and being knocked unconscious when her steed fell on her – and the time Clare Balding ‘nearly killed’ the royal during a race

By Harry Howard, History Correspondent 

Princess Anne’s injury involving a horse is just the latest example of how she has been hurt indulging her passion.

The Princess Royal, 73, was injured at her Gatcombe Park estate before receiving treatment in hospital for concussion and minor injuries to her head.

It comes nearly 60 years on from when she cracked a bone in her finger in December 1964 after getting it caught in the rein while riding a horse at her school in Benenden, Kent, aged 14. 

Then, more seriously, she was knocked unconscious and cracked a vertebra when her horse fell on her at the Portman Horse Trials in Dorset in April 1976.  

Anne also suffered concussion and bruises but was told by doctors that the hairline crack in her back was not serious enough to stop her from competing at the Montreal Olympics that summer. 

On another occasion, broadcaster Clare Balding admitted to having ‘nearly killed’ Anne during a horse race in the 1980s. 

In 1973, Anne had to withdraw from the European Eventing Championships being held in Kyiv, Ukraine, after falling from her horse and landing on her face.

Two years later, in April 1975, she was thrown into the River Avon when her horse, Mardi Gras, failed a jump. 

And in October that year, the Princess fell off her horse after colliding with a steed being ridden by her then-husband, Captain Mark Phillips.  

In 1982, she ended up submerged in water again after falling from her horse, Stevie B, into the lake at the Badminton Horse Trials.  

Anne later admitted that she remembers ‘nothing at all’ about her 1976 fall.

She said in an interview: ‘It was going very well and then I don’t remember anything else. Nothing at all.’

Her former lady-in-waiting, Jane Holderness-Roddam, told ITV: ‘She was that concussed that she couldn’t remember – and still to this day I believe can’t remember – the rest of the course.’ 

Captain Mark Phillips was watching in anguish on the sidelines.

Her horse, Candlewick, fell on top of her after she came a cropper. 

Captain Phillips helped to carry her into a waiting ambulance.

Anne, who has been riding horses since she was two-and-a-half, said in an interview in the 1970s that she ‘frequently’ had felt sheer terror riding a horse.

‘I do all the time,’ she said. ‘I strongly object to getting run away with – that frightens the life out of me. Luckily it doesn’t happen too often.’  

Balding, a former amateur jockey, collided with Anne when they competed in the same event in the 1980s.

She told the Telegraph earlier this year: ‘Well, it was in a race when I’d only been competing a couple of years. I got in her path, we collided and she was nearly unseated. I think she’s forgiven me. She knows I didn’t do it on purpose. 

‘Funnily enough, when she gave me my CBE, having previously presented me with an OBE, she leaned over and said ‘Mmm, I think we’ve been through this before’.’ 

In 2008, Anne was kicked by a horse at her home and needed the help of a walking stick afterwards.

However, her skills on horseback are widely respected.

At the age of 21 she won the individual title at the European Eventing Championship and was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

She competed for Britain in the equestrian three-day event at the Montreal games in 1976, riding the Queen’s horse Goodwill – the same animal that she fell from in Kyiv.