From polo to football: what sports are the members of the British royal family fond of?

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Since the beginning of the summer, members of the British royal family can now and then be seen at various sporting events. After Royal Ascot, it was the turn of the English Wimbledon Grand Slam tennis tournament.

In early July, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, who is the patroness of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, as well as her parents Michael and Carol, were seen in the stands and in the royal box of Wimbledon. Prince Michael of Kent with his wife Maria Christina and Birgitta, Duchess of Gloucester visited there. But the head of the royal family – Elizabeth II – was not at the tennis tournament, and, apparently, is not going to. The 96-year-old monarch, who celebrated her 70th reign last month, has only been to Wimbledon four times in all these years. Her Majesty’s last visit to Wimbledon took place in 2010, when Andy Murray beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen. Both tennis players bowed to the queen, because, according to the rules of this tennis tournament, players must honor the current monarch and heir to the throne in this way. At the same time, Elizabeth met with tennis legends such as Martina Navratilova, Serena and Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer. But, according to those close to her, the queen simply does not like tennis, unlike the Duchess of Cambridge, who is not just an avid fan, but also enjoys this sport herself.

As for the monarch, her sports hobbies are widely known. Elizabeth II, like many of her august ancestors, has been fond of horse riding since childhood. From the age of three and throughout her later life, this was one of her main hobbies. She regularly rode horses until very recently – until October 2021, when doctors recommended that she give up this activity for at least six months. But just the other day it became known that the monarch, who was forced to miss some of the events of her Platinum Jubilee due to problems with the musculoskeletal system, is slowly trying to ride again in the saddle in the courtyard of Windsor Castle.

Horseback riding has been the prerogative of the nobility since time immemorial. And the favorite discipline of the English royal family has always been the game of polo. And one of the most skillful players in the Windsor family is Prince William, although he is left-handed, and polo categorically excludes the use of the left hand, and he has to play with his right. This sport is also loved by Prince Charles, who was once taught to it by his father, Prince Philip. As President of the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986, he oversaw the organization of equestrian events at five Olympic Games between 1968 and 1984. The Duke of Edinburgh rewrote the rules for sled racing based on his own experience. Indeed, at the age of 50, he stopped playing polo and moved to the carriage. We can say that he formulated the modern principles of this sport. And in his spare time, he taught it to his granddaughter, Lady Louise Windsor. At the recent horse show Gallop Through History, dedicated to Britain from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, Prince Edward’s 18-year-old daughter rode the two-horse carriage of Prince Philip, who died a year ago. They say that the queen, who was sitting in the auditorium, at that moment could hardly hold back her tears.

The Duke of Edinburgh was generally an avid sportsman, and the hobbies of his children and grandchildren are largely his merit. For example, his daughter Princess Anne and granddaughter Zara Tindall even participated in the Olympic Games, representing the British equestrian team in 1976 and 2012, respectively. To this day, Zara competes in various competitions in Britain and, together with her mother, holds a small tournament at the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, which Elizabeth II bought for Princess Anne in 1976. Even Prince William’s children – eight-year-old Prince George, six-year-old Princess Charlotte and four-year-old Prince Louis – took up horseback riding. As it became known to the British newspaper The Mirror, during the lockdown in the Norfolk country estate of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Anmer Hall, children rode ponies. To the joy of his father, all three, including baby Louis, turned out to be avid riders. The only senior member of the royal family who does not have a passion for riding is Kate Middleton. In 2009, she admitted to Australian writer Cathy Lett that she was allergic to horses. But at her service are other sports common in the Windsor family: cricket, rugby, sailing.

In 2019, during a visit to Pakistan, she proved herself to be a serious cricketer, and at the end of March of this year, she took part in the regatta dedicated to the platinum anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II in the Bahamas. In addition, after Prince Harry left for the United States and refused all royal duties, his function as the patron of the Rugby Football League and the Rugby Union of England fell on the fragile shoulders of the Duchess of Cambridge. True, her sister Pippa said in an interview that Kate loves this game, and during her childhood, the Middleton family watched rugby matches every weekend. But her children George and Charlotte, apparently, prefer football. Everyone remembers the reaction of the little prince to the first goal in the final match of the 2020 European Championship. When the England team scored the first goal against the Italian team at London’s Wembley Stadium, seven-year-old George spread his arms, unable to contain his delight, and rushed to hug his mother. He is known to occasionally play football with his sister. And recently, while visiting the England women’s training ground in his capacity as honorary president of the English Football Association, William revealed that Charlotte is making progress in football:

Charlotte wanted me to tell you that she’s really good at scoring goals. She asked me to give it to you. A promising star for the future.