Zara Phillips to miss Jubilee pageant

Zara Phillips to miss Jubilee pageant
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Summary Britain's Zara Phillips will miss Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee river pageant.

The 31-year-old royal is skipping the boat parade on the River Thames to pursue her London Olympic dreams by making a last ditch attempt to qualify for Britains equestrian team on her horse, High Kingdom, to compete at the sporting event, which begins in July.Zara was due to join her grandmother the queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Duchess Catherine and Prince Harry on the royal barge - the Spirit of Chartwell - for the river procession, which is expected to include 1,000 vessels, on Sunday (03.06.12).Zaras spokesman told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: I can confirm that Zara will be competing on the Jubilee weekend and will, therefore, not be on the royal barge.The blonde equestrian - who has previously won world and European eventing titles - was hoping to qualify for Team GB at the Badminton horse trials earlier this month but they were cancelled due to heavy rain.Her spokesman added: Because of the cancellation of earlier events, she has entered quite a few and will decide what best suits the horse nearer the time.Zara is keen to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Anne, who competed in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, as a member of Britains equestrian team.Her father, Captain Mark Phillips, won a gold medal as part of Britains three-day eventing team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, and he took home a silver medal in the same discipline at the 1988 Games in Seoul.The blonde beauty - who is married to England rugby player Mike Tindall - carried the Olympic torch on horseback in Cheltenham last week as part of the flames UK relay to mark the lead up to London Olympic Games.
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