If Princess Anne got her love of animals from one person, it was definitely her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who owned more than 30 Corgis during her lifetime.
The Princess Royal's sprawling royal residence on the Gatcombe Estate is the perfect place to raise her beloved English Bull Terriers, and also boasts stables to house her number of horses. The royal also has sheep, pigs, chickens and cattle on her land, and has previously spoken of how "fortunate" she feels to spend so much time in the countryside.
© Tim Graham Photo Library via GetWhile the rolling hills and acres of greenery surrounding the Princess' home on the 700-acre countryside estate provide the ultimate solace, indoors, her home is a cosy and cluttered space full of trinkets and memorabilia dedicated to her love for animals.
See rare photos from inside Gatcombe Park
Princess Anne and her husband of 33 years, Sir Timothy Laurence, don't often share photographs from inside their Gloucestershire home, but they did share a snapshot of them watching television back in 2021.
At the time, the photograph was shared on the royal family's official Instagram page, showing the late Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, 76, and her husband, 71, relaxing on their sofa while watching sport.
© InstagramAt first glance, the royal couple look no different to any other couple, watching football on a cosy red sofa in a room flocked with family photographs. A closer look at the photograph reveals just how many nods to equestrianism the Princess has in her private home.
Secret shrine
On a bookshelf tucked in the corner, several horses sculpted in porcelain, china and crystal can be seen peppering the shelves.
A racehorse figurine stands proudly at the top of the shelf in front of a painting depicting a yard full of cattle.
Further animal motifs are seen throughout the room, including more horse sculptures and rosettes from the royal's professional equestrian days. A figurine of a Greyhound can be seen placed in front of the television, while the Princess and Sir Timothy's dog has a comfy bed right next to the TV stand.
© Getty"Every year, month and day, I realise how fortunate and privileged I am to have grown up and spent most of my life in the countryside. It’s not only the space, appreciating the seasons, the wildlife, the plant life, the arable crops and the livestock, but, most importantly, it’s the people who live and work there and understand the complexity of their environment," Princess Anne penned in her Guest Editor's letter for Country Life magazine in 2020.
© Tim Graham"I have lived at Gatcombe for more than 42 years. We were not looking for a farm, but it has been a real privilege to try to work with what we have. Ours is an organic, extensive grass enterprise, usually complicated by running the horse-trial championships in early August," she said of her animal-loving estate.
