Interview see her climbing into a helicopter at 7am to go off and shake people ’ s hands on some royal visit . “ She ’ s a proper horsey lady – I have big respect for her . She ’ s not frightened and will get on any horse , give anything a go .” Catherine actually sourced one of Princess Anne ’ s horses for her from the Island - a little mare costing £ 5,000 which she still owns . Despite the closeness of the working relationship , though , Catherine always addressed the Princess Royal as Ma ’ am . “ It was just the way it was - I ’ d never dream of calling her Anne ” she says .
Intense times
It was always less formal with Zara , though – Catherine still occasionally referring to her as ‘ Zars ’, and revealing that she still texts her occasionally to say good luck before events . In her six years with Zara , Catherine travelled the world and saw the young rider develop into the worldclass equestrian that she now is . “ I saw her go from being a kid to an adult ” she says . “ When I started , the press attention was a lot for her to handle and I was very protective , wouldn ’ t let them get near her .” By the time Catherine left the job , Zara was very much her own woman . “ I decided to leave because I was exhausted really ” she says , “ but it was heartbreaking because six years is a long time when you ’ re basically living in a lorry together . “ It could be a very intense relationship and there were times when we ’ d shout and scream at each other . I decided I wanted a bit of a life , so I walked out of the job to nothing – but I cried every day for three months and really missed Toytown because I loved that horse .”
“ She ’ s a proper horsey lady – I have big respect for her . She ’ s not frightened and will get on any horse , give anything a go ” www . visitilife . com 23