Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips hosted the first festival in the 1980s (Image: Getty)
An equestrian event held at Princess Anne’s rural retreat for the last 40 years has been cancelled over costs. The Festival of British Eventing, first held at Gatcombe Park in the 1980s, has been declared “unfeasible” to run by its organisers.
Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips set up the event at the 700 acre royal estate in Gloucestershire.
The organisers posted an update on the Festival website on Monday (March 4). It read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park will not take place this year.
“Despite great determination from the organising team, the current economic climate has made it unviable for the event to go ahead.”
The organisers explained “adverse” weather at Gatcombe last year which led to the event being abandoned and the “ever-increasing costs” linked with operating on a green field site had made The Festival “unfeasible to run”.
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Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and Captain Mark Phillips at Gatcombe Park (Image: Getty)
Peter Phillips gives daughter Isla Phillips a piggyback as they attend the 2019 Festival (Image: Getty)
Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, event director, said: “It is with a heavy heart that The Festival, which has played a significant part in the British Eventing calendar since 1983, cannot run this year.
“The event has also been a huge part of my family’s lives and those of many others for 40 years. It has built up a large community that has enjoyed and celebrated The Festival each year.”
His father, Captain Mark Phillips, who chairs the event, said the horse trials at Gatcombe and more recently the Festival of British Eventing have been a major part of his life for more than 40 years when he and Princess Anne “first had the dream”.
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Harry Meade and Zara Tindall warm up their horses at last year’s Festival of British Eventing (Image: Getty)
Princess Anne and Zara Tindall at Gatcombe Horse Trials (Image: Getty)
He added: “The dream became reality, and with it, many special memories of the many riders, horses, volunteers, sponsors and spectators all of whom massively contributed to the history of the horse trials at Gatcombe Park.
“It’s truly a great sadness that the original model and indeed the sport has changed so much. Since Covid, costs, particularly insurance, have risen so much that the numbers no longer add up.
“It is an end of an era, the next 40 years of the sport will be different, let’s hope it can be equally special.”
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