The Princess Royal has suffered memory loss after sustaining head injuries thought to have been caused by one of her horses.
The 73-year-old spent a second night in hospital on Monday after suffering head wounds and concussion during the incident at Gatcombe Park, her Gloucestershire estate.
The exact circumstances of the accident, which took place when the Princess was out walking on Sunday evening, remain unknown because of her concussion. However, her medical team said her injuries were consistent with potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.
The Princess, a former Olympian equestrian, was conscious on Monday. Her memory loss, which relates only to the incident, is thought likely to be temporary.
Buckingham Palace said the Princess was admitted for appropriate tests, treatment and observation.
It is not the first time that the Princess has lost her memory following an equestrian accident. At the 1976 Olympics, she suffered a bad fall at a jump when her horse, Goodwill, became stuck in a boggy mud. She later described her memory as “almost non-existent for that day”.
She became the first member of the Royal family to compete in the Olympic Games when she rode Elizabeth II’s horse, Goodwill in Montreal in 1976.
[Photo: The Royal Family/FaceBook]