Members of any royal family have an action-packed schedule, filled with royal duties, appearances and charity work. But some manage to forge their own career paths alongside this, pursuing sports at the highest level – sometimes even competing in the Olympics and on the international stage.
We’ve taken a tour around the world to find the best athletes and sportspeople competing at the highest level – and still pursuing active work in their country’s royal family. There are certain sports that crop up time and again – royals the world over seem to have an affinity for equestrian and sailing, for instance – but some are less expected. Bobsleigh, tennis and IRONMAN, anyone?
Sporting royals
King George VI
In 1926, the Duke of York – who later went on to become King George VI (the father of Queen Elizabeth II) competed in the men’s doubles at Wimbledon. He remains the only British royal to ever play in the Championships, partnering with Wing Commander Sir Louis Greig – a friend and mentor of the Duke of York.
Unfortunately, the pair lost in the first round. Greig had previously won the RAF Tennis Championships, which gained him a place at Wimbledon, where he invited the Duke to be his partner. While he wasn’t a professional tennis player, King George VI was considered to be a high-level amateur.
Anne, Princess Royal
In 1976, Princess Anne became the first British royal to compete in the Olympic Games, riding in the three-day equestrian event at the Montreal Olympics on the Queen’s horse, Goodwill. She had been the 1971 European Eventing Champion, going on to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 1975, she won a clutch of individual and team medals at the European Eventing Championships. After the birth of her children, Princess Anne shifted focus from eventing into horse racing, where she again competed at a high level.
Impressively, she was able to pursue a high-level equestrian career alongside her career as a working royal. She has remained involved in the sport beyond her riding career, serving as president of the International Equestrian Federation from 1986 to 1994. Her daughter, Zara Tindall, followed in her footsteps of sporting achievement, becoming a world champion and Olympic medallist herself.
Zara Tindall
As daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips – himself an Olympic gold medal-winning equestrian, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Zara Tindall went on to pursue a career in professional sports. She won individual and team gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championships, and became Eventing World Champion in 2010. She was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2006, an award her mother won in 1971.
Tindall (then Phillips) and her horse, Toytown, were selected for the 2008 Olympics, but Toytown sustained an injury during training and Tindall was forced to withdraw – the second Olympics she had been forced to sit out after her horse had also been injured in the run-up to the 2004 Athens Olympics. She was finally able to compete at the 2012 London Olympics on High Kingdom, with whom she won a silver medal in the team event. She retired from competition in 2018, after which she became a non-executive director of Cheltenham Racecourse.
Her husband, Mike Tindall, is also a retired athlete, having previously represented England in the national rugby union team.
Princess Charlene of Monaco
In 2000, Charlene Wittstock (future Princess of Monaco) competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, representing South Africa in swimming. She was a member of the country’s women’s 4x100m medley team, which ended up finishing fifth.
It was also that year that Wittstock met her future husband, Prince Albert of Monaco, at the Mare Nostrum swimming meet in Monaco. He was there undertaking royal duties as a member of the International Olympic Committee and patron of sports, to oversee the international elite swimming competition.
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Like his wife, Albert II is an Olympian. He competed in five consecutive Winter Olympic Games for Monaco: 1988 in Calgary, 1992 in Albertville, 1994 in Lillehammer, 1998 in Nagano and 2002 in Salt Lake City.
He follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, John B Kelly Sr, and uncle, John B Kelly Jr, who were both Olympic medallists in rowing. He was related to them through his mother Grace Kelly’s side of the family.
Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan
The daughter of King Hussein of Jordan is an equestrian, who won the bronze medal in individual jumping at the Pan Arab Games in Syria in 1992 – the first woman to represent Jordan in international equestrian sport. She went on to represent her country in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, later becoming President of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
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King Frederik X of Denmark
In 2013, King Frederick X of Denmark became the first reigning royal (at that time, the Crown Prince) to complete a full IRONMAN triathlon, finishing the inaugural IRONMAN Copenhagen with a time of 10:45:32. As part of the race, he completed the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run, securing 706th place among a line-up of over 2,600 participants.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain
The former King of Spain is an accomplished sailor and three-time Classic Six Metre World Champion sailor, still competing in his later years. He has won several world titles and often used sailing as the reason for his return visits to Spain from his self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi.
King Olav V of Norway
An accomplished athlete, Crown Prince Olav won a gold medal in sailing at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, carrying on his passion for the sport into his old age.
Princess Cristina of Spain
Infanta Cristina is the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos I, following in his footsteps as a budding athlete. She represented Spain in the 1988 Olympics in the Tornado event in sailing. Her husband Iñaki Urdangarin – with whom she is now divorced – was also a professional athlete, playing handball professionally and representing his nation at three Olympics, winning bronze in two.
Top image: South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock takes off in the Womens Senior 200m backstroke , at the South African Short Course Swimming Champs. Ellis Park. South Africa, 1999 (Photo by Gallo Images via Getty Images)
