Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, is to be presented with the prestigious Longines Ladies Awards which takes place at The Natural History Museum, London, on Monday 13^th June 2016. 

The Longines Ladies Award celebrates women who have consistently achieved at the highest level within the equestrian world and made a significant contribution to the equestrian industry through their work. Previous winners of the highly respected award include Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Al Hussein, Sylvie Robert, Criquette Head-Maarek, Jing Li, Bo Derek, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Athina Onassis de Miranda and Sophie Thalmann.

Her Royal Highness will join global equestrian industry leaders as they gather in London on the eve of Royal Ascot to recognise and celebrate the accomplishments of great horsewomen of our time.

The Princess Royal is an outstanding rider and competed for several years with the British Eventing team. In 1971, she became European Champion and in the same year was nominated for Sportswoman of the Year by the Sports Writer’s Association, the Daily Express and World Sport. A few weeks later, she was voted BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year by the British public. 

She went on to win three more European Championship medals, team bronze in 1973 and in 1975 she took the individual and team silver medals. The following year, The Princess Royal was selected to compete for Great Britain in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. 

The Princess Royal’s great accomplishments in the saddle led to her appointment as President of the International Equestrian Federation for two terms between 1986 and 1994. She became President of the British Olympic Association in 1983 and is a Member of the International Olympic Committee. In more recent years, Her Royal Highness was instrumental in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and was a member of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. 

Mr. Juan-Carlos Capelli, Vice President and Head of International Marketing of Longines said: “We are delighted to announce that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is to be honoured this year’s Longines Ladies Awards. She is a formidably talented horsewoman and deserves huge praise for her achievements and contributions in the equestrian world. We are thrilled to have her as our special guest at this year’s awards.” 

The Longines Ladies Awards recognises the success and achievements of women at the very highest level of the global equine sports industry. This year’s award has been judged and decided by three leaders in world equestrianism: Mr. Ingmar de Vos, President of the FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale); Mr. Louis Romanet, Chairman of the IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities); and Mrs. Nathalie Bélinguier, President of the FEGENTRI (International Federation of Gentleman and Lady Riders). 

Longines has been long associated with equestrian sport, dating back to 1878, when it produced a chronograph engraved with a jockey and horse. Used to time performances on racecourses since 1881, Longines is popular amongst many professional riders and jockeys and is continually used to time performances at some of most famous racecourses and equestrian venues in the world. Longines is proud to be an official partner of the IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities) and FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale).