In 2006, Zara Phillips became the second member of her family to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, following in the footsteps of her mother, the Princess Royal, who received the same accolade after winning the European Eventing Championships at Burghley on her horse, Doublet, back in 1971.
Phillips, herself, became individual European Champion at Blenheim on her horse, Toytown, in 2005 and won the individual competition at the World Eventing Championships in Aachen, Germany on the same horse in 2006. Her performances in Aachen also helped the Great Britain team – which also comprised Daisy Dick on Spring Along, William Fox-Pitt on Tamarillo and Mary King on Call Again Cavalier – to a silver medal in the team competition.
Presented with the prestigious silver trophy by Sir Steve Redgrave, Phillips said, rather shakily, “I wasn’t expecting it at all. It’s amazing to be here with all these amazing sports people. I have sat there in awe of everyone. To win is amazing. It’s fantastic for the sport.”
The bookmakers weren’t expecting it, either, having made golfer Darren Clarke – who won all three of his Ryder Cup matches at the K Club in County Kildare in September just six weeks after the death of his wife, Heather – hot favourite to win. Gymnast Beth Tweddle, who became British, European and World Champion on the uneven bars in 2006, finished third in the public vote. Indeed, in a pre-recorded message ahead of BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023 – which marked the seventieth anniversary of the award, devised in 1954 – Phillips confessed to her disbelief at winning. She said she felt like, “Is this a joke?”
Zara Phillips – by then Zara Tindall, having married England rugby union player Mike Tindall in July 2011 – went of to compete at the 2012 London Olympic Games on her horse High Kingdom, winning a silver medal in the team competition. However, at the time, her BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award was not favourably received by everyone. Many viewers complained that, as a royal, she received preferential treatment over other deserving nominees, not least boxer Joe Calzaghe, who would be voted the winner in 2007.