On International Women's Day we take a look at the female powerhouses of the Royal Family. From sporting prowess to charitable commitments, the Royal women show a tireless and irrepressible dedication to a range of people and causes. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Philanthropy and physical prowess have been prominent facets of the British royal family
00:10 for centuries, demonstrating the monarch's generosity and concern for their subjects
00:16 whilst also displaying their strength and athleticism, showing the required qualities
00:20 needed to lead a country.
00:23 The tradition of the King's Maundy Thursday almsgiving at Easter time, for example, dates
00:28 as far back as King John in the 13th century.
00:32 As the years passed, the sovereign's horsemanship turned from the battlefield to the sporting
00:37 arena, from eventing to polo to carriage driving, not to mention the many non-equestrian sports
00:44 they stick their oar and boot into.
00:47 But within the last century it has been the royal women competing at sport's top levels,
00:53 winning world and Olympic medals, or simply outperforming their husbands in fun and games.
00:59 Britain's queens, princesses, duchesses and countesses have also supported tens of thousands
01:05 of charities and other organisations, promoting children's wellbeing, mental health, anti-slavery,
01:12 environmental conservation and people with disabilities, often using sport in order to
01:18 do so.
01:20 Here then we take a look at the royal family's female powerhouses and their inexhaustible
01:25 appetite to serve, promote, compete and win.
01:32 Horses have been tightly intertwined with the lives of the royals for centuries.
01:37 Queen Elizabeth II was a huge fan of horse racing and rode her own ponies into her 90s.
01:44 The sport is an important constituent of the royal calendar, with members regularly attending
01:49 Royal Ascot, the Cheltenham Festival and the Epsom Derby.
01:54 King Charles was a keen polo player, as was his father, Prince Philip.
01:59 A family of skilled equestrians then, but only two current royals can call themselves
02:04 Olympians, the mother and daughter duo of Princess Anne and Zara Tindall.
02:10 The Princess Royal married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and had two children together, Peter
02:16 and Zara.
02:18 Captain Phillips won medals in team eventing at two Olympic Games, gold in Munich in 1972
02:25 and silver 16 years later in Seoul.
02:28 Anne was a member of Great Britain's eventing team at the 1976 Games in Montreal, which
02:34 had to withdraw during the competition due to injuries to two of the horses.
02:39 Daughter Zara suffered double Olympic disappointment during the 2000s as injuries to her horse
02:45 Toy Town forced her to withdraw from the British team for the Athens and Beijing Games.
02:51 But then, in London in 2012, Zara finally competed alongside her Great Britain team-mates,
02:58 winning a silver medal on home soil with High Kingdom.
03:02 Her medal was presented to her by her mother.
03:04 "You know, at the end of the day we came home with a silver medal and if you'd asked us
03:10 before that we probably would have been well chuffed but you know, the gold was in sight
03:17 and you know it was disappointing but you know we could have lost the silver as well."
03:22 "And who pops up to give you your silver medal but your mum, so that was a nice family moment,
03:28 tell me how that went?"
03:29 "Yeah it was awesome, obviously she's part of the IOC so."
03:32 "You were expecting it, it wasn't a huge surprise."
03:35 "I thought they might do it."
03:39 A silver in the Olympics, but just seven years previously she had achieved gold in team and
03:44 individual eventing at the European Championships.
03:48 A year later, in 2006, she went to the World Championships in Germany, winning gold in
03:54 individual competition.
03:56 She and Toy Town were world champions.
03:59 Her achievements were recognised by the British public at the end of the year as she was voted
04:03 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, following in her mother's footsteps as Princess Anne
04:09 picked up the award in 1971.
04:12 It was the first and remains the only time that members of the same family have won the
04:17 award.
04:20 After being forced to give up polo because of arthritis in his right wrist, the ever
04:25 pragmatic and enterprising Prince Philip began a new tradition based on the old.
04:30 He took up and helped develop the sport of carriage driving, even helping to draft an
04:35 internationally recognised rulebook.
04:38 When he died in 2021, he left his driving ponies and carriage to his youngest granddaughter,
04:44 Lady Louise Windsor, who shared his love for the sport.
04:48 It was an emotional moment for the Queen at her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022,
04:53 when Louise rode his ponies and carriage at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
04:58 Equestrian events are often seen as the domain of the rich and privileged, but the Royal's
05:04 love of the sport has seen them try and widen its appeal.
05:07 Zara was in her late teens when she served as President of Club 16-24, a group which
05:13 aimed to attract young people into equestrianism.
05:16 At the same time, she backed a campaign to give primary school children of all backgrounds
05:21 a chance to ride horses.
05:23 I guess I'm always, because I've always had horses around me, giving them an opportunity
05:32 to do that, have the same opportunities as people like me is obviously going to be good,
05:39 isn't it?
05:40 She is currently the patron of Retraining of Racehorses, a charity for the well-being
05:44 of retired racehorses.
05:47 Likewise Anne is a keen supporter of horse welfare organisations.
05:51 She is patron of the British Equine Veterinary Association and vice-patron of the British
05:56 Horse Society, to name just two.
05:59 The Royal support other animal welfare charities too.
06:03 The King and Queen are joint presidents of the Elephant Family, founded in 2002 by Camilla's
06:08 late brother Mark Shand.
06:11 Princess Eugenie of York is also a patron of the Conservation Charity.
06:15 Camilla is a well-known supporter of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, of which she has been
06:20 patron since 2017, working closely with the late comedian and broadcaster, Paulo Grady.
06:26 I think we speak as one, don't we? We are. I've got a lot of things to tell you about these photos.
06:36 Lovely to see you. This is my latest addition. This is Sosage. Sosage came from Romania.
06:44 She's got the Polish chip. And she's... To be honest, a nightmare.
06:52 Are you well behaved, Sosage? Well, she's OK. She's an escape artist.
06:59 So we've had to literally fence off an entire field for her so she can go running around.
07:05 Another of the Queen Consort's commitments is to literacy, encouraging children to read
07:10 and write from an early age.
07:12 ...sleeping softly in a gently flowing brook. But it's never, no it's never, no it's never
07:19 just a brook.
07:21 And since 2006, Camilla has invited children with life-limiting illnesses to decorate the
07:28 Christmas tree at her London residence, Clarence House.
07:31 Princess Anne has been a fervent supporter of children's charity Save the Children, serving
07:48 as its president since 1970 and its patron since 2017.
07:53 I've been a born pessimist all my life, but curious enough, one of the... I don't feel
07:58 that about Save the Children Fund's work and never have done, partly because I think the
08:02 way in which it's done, the thoroughness with which they approach their projects and the
08:08 evaluation which they approach their projects and throughout the life of the project, I
08:14 feel there are very, very few occasions or places where I felt this isn't working.
08:20 Stepping down a generation to the wife and mother of the two future Kings of England,
08:25 Catherine, Princess of Wales.
08:27 A mother of three, Kate is passionate about the early years development of children.
08:32 She launched the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021 and leads the centre's
08:38 Shaping Us campaign.
08:40 In addition, she is patron of the Evelina London Children's Hospital, opening a new
08:45 children's day surgery unit there in 2023, and of the Foundling Museum, the UK's first
08:51 children's charity.
08:53 Her skills as a mother are always in evidence in her many public engagements.
08:57 How old are you guys?
09:09 Five.
09:10 You're five?
09:11 Cool!
09:12 Are you five too?
09:14 How old are you?
09:15 Four.
09:16 Five?
09:17 Wow!
09:18 Can you put that one in there?
09:22 Yay!
09:23 Do you push it really hard?
09:25 Well done.
09:26 Can I shake your hand?
09:27 Very nice to meet you.
09:28 What's this?
09:29 Is this your picture?
09:30 Yes.
09:31 And did you draw this?
09:33 Is this something that you've designed?
09:35 I did it with my mum.
09:37 Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, also mothers of little ones, have championed children's
09:42 causes.
09:43 Beatrice is Royal Patron for the Yorkshire-based Forget Me Not Children's Hospice.
09:48 Both sisters supported their mother Sarah, Duchess of York's charity Children in Crisis,
09:53 aimed at improving the lives of women and children in developing countries.
09:58 In 2010, Beatrice became the first royal to run the London Marathon to raise money for
10:03 the charity.
10:04 Children in Crisis merged with Street Child in 2018.
10:08 Sophie, then the Countess of Wessex, ran part of a virtual London Marathon in 2020 during
10:15 the Covid pandemic, in her role as patron of Mencap.
10:19 She joined a runner with a disability for the first 1.5 miles of his virtual marathon,
10:25 to symbolise the 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability.
10:30 Disabilities are a key focus of Sophie's public service.
10:34 She is the patron of British wheelchair basketball, presenting medals at the Commonwealth Games
10:39 in Birmingham in 2022.
10:41 Her passion, though, is preventing avoidable blindness, something personal to the Duchess
10:46 of Edinburgh because of her daughter.
10:49 Lady Louise was born with esotropia, a condition where one of the eyes turns inwards.
10:55 Aged 10, she had surgery which successfully corrected it, improving her eyesight.
11:01 Sophie is Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and
11:06 has travelled the world to see projects aimed at tackling blindness.
11:10 She is also Royal Patron for Guide Dogs in the UK.
11:14 Sophie is just one of the female royals championing equality for women, particularly in business
11:20 and in the workplace, as well as preventing sexual and domestic violence.
11:24 She attended an anti-domestic violence reception alongside the Queen Consort at Buckingham
11:29 Palace in 2022 as part of a UN global initiative.
11:34 She is the President of Girlguiding and Chair of the Women's Network Forum, working for
11:39 the advancement of gender balance and equality in businesses.
11:43 Princess Eugenie has devoted much of her time and effort into combating modern-day slavery,
11:48 of which women and girls are estimated to make up 71% of overall victims.
11:54 Eugenie is patron of Anti-Slavery International and founded the Anti-Slavery Collective in
11:59 2017 alongside her friend Julia de Bonville.
12:03 Both women host a podcast called Floodlight, talking to high-profile guests and highlighting
12:09 the battle against slavery.
12:11 We want to work with businesses looking at their supply chains and being leaders in the
12:15 movement, and we're going to focus in on how businesses can really lead the charge in ending
12:20 modern slavery.
12:22 Since becoming a member of the royal family and now as Queen, Camilla has shone a light
12:26 on a range of causes for the betterment of society for women.
12:30 In 2013, as Duchess of Cornwall, she began the Washbag Initiative, providing washbags
12:36 to women referred to sexual assault referral centres in London.
12:41 The scheme has now expanded to the whole of the UK.
12:44 The Queen also highlights the work domestic abuse charities do to support victims and
12:49 survivors, both in Britain and around the world.
12:53 Across the Commonwealth, calls to the domestic violence helplines have increased by up to
12:59 500% over the past two years.
13:04 Whether we are aware of it or not, we all know someone who has endured sexual or domestic
13:11 abuse.
13:13 We can therefore all be part of combating these heinous acts.
13:20 Camilla is President of the Women of the World Foundation, campaigning for gender equality
13:25 across the globe.
13:27 In 2023, she hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark International Women's Day,
13:33 with guests including Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe, actors Sarah Lancashire and Rose Ayling Ellis,
13:39 and leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt.
13:43 The Royals are not just champions of charity, but enthusiastic supporters of various sports,
13:48 often taking part in games as part of their engagements, with varying degrees of success.
13:55 As we've already seen, Princess Anne and Zara Tindall are champion horse riders, but their
14:00 sporting interests and talents do not end there.
14:04 Princess Anne has been patron of the Scottish Rugby Union since the mid-1980s, and is regularly
14:09 seen at Scotland's international matches at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium.
14:14 Her son, Peter Phillips, was a talented rugby union player, selected for Scotland's national
14:19 school boys' side in 1995.
14:22 Zara's interest in rugby took her to the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, where she met
14:28 her future husband, England international Mike Tindall.
14:32 The couple have three children together.
14:35 As well as being world champion in eventing, Zara excelled in gymnastics, athletics and
14:40 hockey as a school girl.
14:42 The Princess of Wales too was a talented hockey player, captaining her team during her school
14:47 days and playing at university.
14:51 In 2012 she opened a new Astro pitch at her old school, St Andrews, and so was one of
14:56 the first people to play on the new field, showing impressive skill and balance in a
15:01 coat and heels.
15:04 Catherine is often seen at the Wimbledon tennis championships, in her role as patron of the
15:09 All England Lawn Tennis Club and the Lawn Tennis Association.
15:14 She is also patron of England's governing bodies for both codes of rugby, the Rugby
15:19 Football Union and the Rugby Football League.
15:22 And her already heavy involvement in sport doesn't stop there.
15:27 She and William, as the young and fit future king and queen, are regularly invited to try
15:32 their hand at all manner of sports, with Kate often coming out on top.
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16:24 William and Kate's daughter Princess Charlotte has said her favourite sport is gymnastics.
16:35 Her father is president of the Football Association and the pair have previously sent good luck
16:40 messages to the England women's national team, the Lionesses.
16:44 So go out there tomorrow and really enjoy yourselves.
16:47 Good luck Lionesses!
16:49 You've done amazingly well in the competition and we're rooting for you all the way.
16:52 Good luck, I hope you win. Bye!
16:55 The next generation of Royals are sure to inherit their parents' love of and talent for sport.
17:01 Getting stuck in and getting on with it is the attitude of the Royal women to both their
17:08 charitable endeavours and sporting commitments.
17:11 Championing causes to improve the lives of men, women, children and animals.
17:16 Amplifying the voices of those who need to be heard.
17:19 Leading teams and organisations off the field and putting in medal winning performances on it.
17:25 Britain's Royal women have shown a tireless and irrepressible dedication to a wide-ranging
17:31 and expanding number of people and groups.
17:34 All in an impressive yet modest spirit of selflessness.
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