The hardest-working royal is back in action. On Friday, Princess Anne attended the Riding for the Disabled Association National Championships in Gloucestershire, marking her first official engagement since suffering a concussion and minor injuries last month.
On June 23, Anne — King Charles III’s younger sister — was admitted to Southmead Hospital in Bristol after an unspecified incident at her country home in Gloucestershire.
The next day, Buckingham Palace announced that the princess was expected to “make a full and swift recovery.” A spokesperson for the palace told the New York Times that Anne, 73, was “recovering well, is in a comfortable condition, and is being kept in hospital as a precautionary measure for further observation.” When Anne’s husband, Timothy Laurence, visited her, he said she was “recovering slowly.” Anne left the hospital a few days later and has been recouping at home since. Her injuries came during an already difficult year for the royals’ health, with both Kate Middleton and King Charles undergoing treatment for cancer.
Although the palace didn’t specify the cause of Anne’s injuries, the BBC reported that she was walking at Gatcombe Park, her country estate, when the incident took place. NBC reported that there were horses nearby and her medical team said her injuries are consistent with possible impact from a horse’s head or legs. Known as the Princess Royal, Anne loves horses and competed for Britain in the equestrian three-day event at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The princess has been a patron for the Riding for the Disabled Association since 1971 and its president since 1985.
Anne is widely considered “the hardest-working royal” (she attended the most events of any member of the family last year, per People), and she had to slow down her schedule following her injuries. It’s only fitting, then, that her first post-injury appearance would be at an equestrian event.
This post has been updated.
