𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟺
[the camera cuts to an interviewer who is sat on a bench outside the stables at Windsor]
"Well in honour of The Pony Clubs 75th anniversary, one of its most exciting and talented members, HRH Princess Isabella of Wales, or just Isabella Wales as she is known whilst competing, has graciously allowed us an interview."
[the camera briefly pans out to show Bella, sat next to the interviewer in a Pony Club hoodie and jodhpurs with her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun, smiling in acknowledgment]
"At just seventeen she already has a bronze European medal to her name, earned just last summer at the championships, as well as several wins at events at a national level. This of course all began a few years ago at the Pony Club area events, your Royal Highness, would you like to tell us more about how you got to where you are today?"
"Yes of course...so I started off, like you said, with the areas, and just found that I loved eventing and competing, all of it really. Um, and then I just started to do them more regularly and compete more and yeah, now I'm sat here!" [she laughs]
"But it must have been a long journey?"
"Well, not very long. I think, you know, talking about the pony club, that's what's so fantastic about it is that it's um, seamless. So it doesn't feel like all of the sudden you're doing these big scary events that are completely different to anything you have ever done before. Because the areas do follow the pattern of 80, 90 and so on, so it's not a huge jump which definitely helped me."
"Of course your aunt, The Princess Royal, is our patron and a very accomplished equestrian in her own right, [Bella smiles and nods] does she give you any tips?"
[She chuckles lightly before answering] "Um, yes! Of course she does, she shares her absolute wealth of experience. To be honest, I wouldn't expect anything less! [they both laugh] No, but she has been wonderful, all my family have. I'm so privileged to be able to have someone who does understand and has experience and you know Zara too, Zara has been through the pony club as well so particularly in the early days she was also very helpful."
"You mentioned your family there, what do they think of you eventing, and doing so well! We saw the pictures of them at the Europeans last year, what do they say about it all?"
"They're wonderful. Um, as you were mentioning last year was obviously very exciting, I think it's fair to say that they enjoyed it. [they laugh] No, but they are all fantastic, from Granny who obviously owns Kaapi, to Pa and Grandpa who like to joke that they are competing with each other to be my biggest fan! They're all brilliant, and I'm so thankful to them as well."
"Obviously you're now seventeen, [Bella nods] are the ponies over? Are we next going to see you on horses?"
"Um, I'm not sure whether ponies are over completely. Kaapi is fifteen now, so potentially, although he seems to still have a lot of jumping in him so who knows? I do have some horses sort of, on the horizon though...I've got one mare, Renaissance Rose who is owned by Lizzie Walter, and she's doing really well so we'll see how she does this season and yeah, see how it goes."
"Your Royal Highness, thank you."
"Thank you."
Bella gave a big sigh of relief as she heard the camera click off. Turning back to the interviewer, they shared a laugh at her, "was that alright?" Bella asked, her hand pressing against her slightly pink cheeks.
"Yes! It was wonderful, well done."
"Thank you." She replied sincerely, "did I talk about the pony club enough, I kept trying to slide it in."
"No don't worry, I'm sure it's fantastic. To be honest, I think they'd have been happy if you talked about anything, getting this interview is enough!"
Bella blushed again, she still wasn't used to people talking to her like that, "oh, well I'm glad it was okay!"
"Yes, yes." The interviewer repeated as she began to pack up everything, "thanks again!"
"No problem." Bella replied with a smile. Turning, she left the group and began to walk back to the stables, shaking her head at absurdity of her life.
♔♕
"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚊, 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚒𝚜 𝙷𝚁𝙷 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙻𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚒𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜' 𝚁𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝟷𝟾 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚘..."
Bella had only heard the beginning of the commentators speech about her, far to engrossed in what was coming to pay the rest of it any attention. Ruby pulled at her, trying to get her head as they cantered around the outside. 'Don't let her, not till you're at the jumps.' She heard her aunts voice say.
The pressure was on. The two of them had led from the beginning, everyone had big expectations. But there was nothing like a bit of pressure to make Bella work, if anything it helped.
"𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍, 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍."
Ruby felt amazing. She was pulling, eager for every fence. She didn't often feel this confident showjumping and it was making Bella feel even more confident. It was going well.
"𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙲𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘. 𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟾 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝙺."
Three fences. It was just three fences that stood between Bella proving herself as a good rider. There were still people saying the only reason she was doing so well was because she was riding the Queen's horse. Well, Ruby was not granny's. If she could win now, then they would all be proved wrong.
"𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘. 𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚡𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙾𝚑, 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛."
The entire crowd was holding there breath. The only sound was that of Ruby's hooves across the grass, getting closer and closer to the fence.
"Steady." Bella's voice rang out into the crowd as she spoke to her horse. Three strides, two strides, they were so close to winning.
The silence continued as they flew over the final fence. Then, as Ruby's front hooves landed and her back ones cleared the jump, the crowd erupted.
"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙲𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚁! 𝙸𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝙸𝚂 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝙾𝙿 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟾 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝙺!"
She had done it. They had done it. The noise was unbelievable as Bella galloped around the edge of the arena, waving to the ecstatic crowd who were all on their feet and cheering back to her.
Bella was a good rider. And it had nothing to do with who owned the horse.
♔♕
The room was filled with chatter and laughter.
The great sound of family.
They had all come together for her 18th birthday. It was lovely, to have everyone there. Everyone catching up and enjoying each other's company.
Bella loved moments like this. Moments where it was just them and no one else. No other demands. Nobody requesting anything or expecting anything. They could just be themselves and enjoy what they were doing. It was perfect.
She couldn't believe she was an adult now. That was it, almost everything was allowed. Well, it would be if she wasn't the daughter of the heir to the throne. Still, her brothers had promised that they'd take her to a pub so she could buy them a round which she was guessing had been Harry's idea.
Her pa had given her a Cartier watch which she had just stared at for a good few moments initially. When Bella had finally got over the shock, she had hugged him tight before practically bouncing over to show Camilla and her brothers, followed quickly by the rest of the family when they arrived.
Everything was going wonderfully. Her a-levels were next year, she still wasn't sure about if she wanted to go to university but that wasn't something to worry about now. Not when she was having a lovely dinner with all her family.
There was nothing to worry about at the minute.
♔♕
𝗔/𝗡: 𝘀𝗼 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆!
𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱! 𝗫