The Olympics and royals are as sure a pairing as bread and butter or toast and jam. Let’s take a look at how some of the royals have represented at the games. Today we’ll focus on Britain, Monaco and Norway. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Spain, Greece and Denmark.
Britain
The first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympics is the redoubtable Princess Anne, and she started a family tradition. She was a member of the British eventing team in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Fun fact: Her horse, named Goodwill, was owned by the Queen.
Anne’s daughter, Zara, began competing in individual and team eventing in the late aughts. She won an individual gold medal at the 2006 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, riding her horse High Kingdom. Princess Anne presented the silver medal to her daughter, to the collective awwwws of royal watchers around the world.
Zara’s winning ways are genetically encoded. Her father and Anne’s ex-husband, Captain Mark Phillips, has both a gold and a silver Olympic medal, both won in the team three-day event competition. The gold came from the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the silver in 1988 in Seoul.
Monaco
Princess Charlene has a definite affinity for the Olympics. As Charlene Wittstock she competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, placing fifth in the 4×100 meter medley relay. She and Prince Albert made their first public appearance as a couple at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.
No slouch in the Olympics department either, Prince Albert participated in all the games from 1988-2002 as part of the Monaco bobsled team. He’s another one with Olympics in the blood. His grandfather, John Kelly and uncle, John Kelly Jr., participated in four Olympic games, in rowing. John Kelly Jr. also served as the president of the U.S. Olympic committee.
John Kelly, Wikipedia 
John Kelly, Jr., Wikipedia 
Prince Albert, BBC
Norway
Then Prince Harald competed in the yachting events in three Olympic Games: 1964 in Tokyo, 1968 in, Mexico City and 1972 in Munich. In 1964 (updated) he was the flag bearer for Norway. You know what I am going to say, right? Yes, it’s all in the family. Harald’s father, King Olav, won a gold medal in 6 metre sailing class at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.
Prince Harald, BBC 
Prince Harald, People
