𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

18 ♔♕ 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟺

[the camera cuts to an interviewer who is sat on a bench outside the stables at Windsor]

"Well in honour of The Pony Clubs 75th anniversary, one of its most exciting and talented members, HRH Princess Isabella of Wales, or just Isabella Wales as she is known whilst competing, has graciously allowed us an interview."

[the camera briefly pans out to show Bella, sat next to the interviewer in a Pony Club hoodie and jodhpurs with her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun, smiling in acknowledgment]

"At just seventeen she already has a bronze European medal to her name, earned just last summer at the championships, as well as several wins at events at a national level. This of course all began a few years ago at the Pony Club area events, your Royal Highness, would you like to tell us more about how you got to where you are today?"

"Yes of course...so I started off, like you said, with the areas, and just found that I loved eventing and competing, all of it really. Um, and then I just started to do them more regularly and compete more and yeah, now I'm sat here!" [she laughs]

"But it must have been a long journey?"

"Well, not very long. I think, you know, talking about the pony club, that's what's so fantastic about it is that it's um, seamless. So it doesn't feel like all of the sudden you're doing these big scary events that are completely different to anything you have ever done before. Because the areas do follow the pattern of 80, 90 and so on, so it's not a huge jump which definitely helped me."

"Of course your aunt, The Princess Royal, is our patron and a very accomplished equestrian in her own right, [Bella smiles and nods] does she give you any tips?"

[She chuckles lightly before answering] "Um, yes! Of course she does, she shares her absolute wealth of experience. To be honest, I wouldn't expect anything less! [they both laugh] No, but she has been wonderful, all my family have. I'm so privileged to be able to have someone who does understand and has experience and you know Zara too, Zara has been through the pony club as well so particularly in the early days she was also very helpful."

"You mentioned your family there, what do they think of you eventing, and doing so well! We saw the pictures of them at the Europeans last year, what do they say about it all?"

"They're wonderful. Um, as you were mentioning last year was obviously very exciting, I think it's fair to say that they enjoyed it. [they laugh] No, but they are all fantastic, from Granny who obviously owns Kaapi, to Pa and Grandpa who like to joke that they are competing with each other to be my biggest fan! They're all brilliant, and I'm so thankful to them as well."

"Obviously you're now seventeen, [Bella nods] are the ponies over? Are we next going to see you on horses?"

"Um, I'm not sure whether ponies are over completely. Kaapi is fifteen now, so potentially, although he seems to still have a lot of jumping in him so who knows? I do have some horses sort of, on the horizon though...I've got one mare, Renaissance Rose who is owned by Lizzie Walter, and she's doing really well so we'll see how she does this season and yeah, see how it goes."

"Your Royal Highness, thank you."

"Thank you."

Bella gave a big sigh of relief as she heard the camera click off. Turning back to the interviewer, they shared a laugh at her, "was that alright?" Bella asked, her hand pressing against her slightly pink cheeks.

"Yes! It was wonderful, well done."

"Thank you." She replied sincerely, "did I talk about the pony club enough, I kept trying to slide it in."