They Are Just Like Us - Aren´t They?
Some days ago an astonishingly private snapshot of Princess Anne´s living room appeared in my instagram feed and it took me quite a while to really get into every detail.
Because, if your image of the Royal Family is highly influenced by what you´ve watched at Netflix´s "The Crown", you might be quite stunned: nothing in this place (I can only assume, it´s the "telly room") is styled or even arranged, Anne herself is sitting on a cushion, as if her couch has lost its strength, piles of books are stapled everywhere, as are all kinds bric-a-brac, a mixture of kitsch, sentiment and irony.
And while my favorite daily newspaper "The Telegraph" did a very witty comment on that picture, explaining to us - the normal people - that every inch of this room speaks noblesse if not royalty - I go for a different interpretation.
Because this room immediately reminded me of my cousin Karen.
Within our extended family from my mother´s side there were more than two dozens cousins I grew up with - and among us girls, who were all into riding ponies, Karen was by far the most dedicated. She managed from a very young age to train other people ´s horses after school, then got engaged to a Jockey(!), broke up, married a farmer and talked him into exchanging his cows for horses.
Within ten years she had built a highly reputated breed of thoroughbred ponies and smaller horses, selling most of them to wealthy English families. Also, her daughter became a Champion in show jumping, trained and accompanied by her mother.
When I visited Karin and her family after a long time - having had heard about all their success - I could not help but be shocked about her lifestyle.
The stables: state of the art
The horse carrier to chauffeur her daughter and her precious horsers to competitions: More expensive than our holiday home in South of France.
The house: a complete mess.
Because: There are no people less interested in lifestyle on this planet than horse people. That is a rule.
Go, check your family and friends and you will find out about their level of devotion by checking their living room.
Don´t get confused by people with wonderful horses AND wonderful houses. Dig deeper.
Princess Anne has always been the real horse person within the Royal family, having been an Eurpean Champion, riding in competitions all her life. So, as we always knew, "The Crown" was just the fictional version about the Royal Family - this is just another prove:
