An avid horse rider who represented her country at the 1976 Olympics, Anne is still heavily invested in sport, serving on London's 2012 Olympic organizing committee. It's one of the 200 or so charities and organizations she's involved with, and when asked in a television interview whether she felt like cutting back, she referred to her famously energetic mother, 84-year-old Queen Elizabeth.
"Look around at the members of my family who are considerably older than me and tell me whether you think they have set an example which suggests that I might," she said in an interview with the BBC timed to coincide with her birthday on Sunday. "Some of it is in the genes."
Anne's official title is The Princess Royal, but she cultivates a no-nonsense public image and took the unusual step of not conferring royal status upon her children, Peter, 32, and Zara, 29.
Both were also interviewed as part of the program. Zara, who like her mother is an accomplished equestrian, could participate in the 2012 games. Anne told the BBC she would be pleased if her daughter qualified.
