Queen's grandson Peter Phillips gets his hands dirty for showjumping at Horse Guards

 
The Queen's Grandson Peter Phillips is bringing The Longines Global Champions Tour meeting to London Picture: Lucy Young

Out of the corner of his eye Peter Phillips, the Queen's eldest grandchild, spots a worker struggling to operate a JCB forklift truck.

Wearing his trademark jeans, a casual shirt and high visibility yellow vest, he cuts short our interview and springs into action, climbing into the drivers seat to take control.

"Sometimes it helps being brought up on a farm," he says, "You learn how to operate one of these things."

Peter Phillips, 37 this year and a close mentor to the future King his cousin Prince William, is a no nonsense character.

He is the hands on UK boss of his successful firm Sports & Entertainment Limited (SEL-UK) which is bringing a major show jumping event - the UK’s richest grand prix The Longines Global Champions Tour meeting - to the heart of London next week.

Preparations begin for the Longines Global Champions Tour Picture: Lucy Young

It has been two years in the planning and he rightly proud that he has managed to pull it off - staging the premier event at the iconic Horse Guards Parade, London, from August 14-16.

It is the first competitive equestrian event to be staged there and spectators will be able to watch from a grandstand and on a free big screen in nearby St James’s Park.

"You can't get more iconic than this," he said while standing in the sanded event stage surrounded by a diggers, and hard-hatted workers on a construction site, "A phenomenal setting for what will be a great few days of competition. It has taken two years to get here,"

He is not precious. He works out of a shared temporary office on site. "It's no mean feat. We've had to ship in 1100 tons of sand and we've got to ship it all out again, all around Ride London."

"There have been a lot of conversations with parks, planning Westminster Council with London District, The Army have been very supportive too. We are disrupting their regular routine with the Queen's Lifeguard and creating a bit if noise," he said.

Talking of the Queen, who he has described as his inspiration" did she support him on the project? he smiles. "Put it this way she knows about it."

Peter Phillips, the Queen's grandson, gets involved in the preparations Picture: Lucy Young

Would she and other members of his family, so many of whom are passionate about show jumping, be supporting him by coming to the event.

"It's possible," he laughs "But it is August." (A time of the year the Royal Family decamps to Balmoral.)

Riding is in his blood. "I grew up with show jumping watching guys like Harvey Smith. back then it was one of the main televised sports, I loved it, the riders were big stars."

"Horses have always been part of my life so it is not like it is a surprise that I am involved in this,”

His mother won the European Eventing Championships in 1971 and competed at the Montreal Olympics five years later, while his father Mark, 65, won eventing team gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

in 2012 Peter was at Greenwich Park to see Zara, herself a former World and a European eventing champion, win team silver at London 2012.

And it is a family tradition that looks set to continue.

His daughters with Canadian wife, Autumn, who he married in 2008, Savannah, the Queen's first great grandchild who is 4 in December and Isla, two, have already been on horseback.

"Yes, they have started riding already. They absolutely love it," says the proud dad who admits being a father has completely changed his perspective on life for the better.

Peter Phillips seems a man content with life.

Peter Phillips takes the wheel of machinery on site Picture: Lucy Young

When he was born he was fifth in line to the throne and is still 12th in the line of succession. His parents did not want him to have a royal or aristocratic title. He would, after all, have to make his own way. He has done a pretty good job.

Charming, erudite and down to earth he keeps a low public profile He carries out no royal engagements, but is seen at traditional royal gatherings with his family.

After leaving his job with Royal Bank of Scotland in 2012 he has thrown his energies into setting up the UK arm of SEL, an Australian-based sports and entertainment agency. Staging this event as well as representing athletes, takes up most of his time.

“It is a huge privilege to bring the Longines Global Champions Tour to London again this year," he told The London Evening Standard.

"After the success of the inaugural event in 2013 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, we wanted to build on that and it doesn’t get much better than the iconic setting of Horse Guards Parade Ground to host the Dia-mond League of show jumping.

"We once again welcome back the best riders and horses in the world in what will be their final appearance before heading off to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy at the end of August,” he said.

The Tour is the premier circuit in show jumping taking place at spectacular international destinations including Monte Carlo, Shanghai, Doha, Cannes, Paris and Madrid.

Hollywood actress Marion Cotillard, style icon Charlotte Casiraghi, rock legend Bruce Springsteen are all avid followers of the Tour, and riders including Michael Bloomberg’s daughter Georgina, Bill Gates’ daughter Jennifer, Athina Onassis de Miranda, Electra Niarchos and Katia Rybolovleva.

And at a time when the BBC is easing back into coverage of show jumping, Peter has managed to persuade the BBC to bring it back on terrestrial TV.

“The BBC was interested last year as part of the ‘soft legacy’ of the Games,” he said.

“The viewing figures for were impressive and now that it is at an iconic location, I think it ticked all their boxes.

"After the Olympic Games, after the British team won a gold medal in London one of the key focuses was to maintain the level of interest in the sport.

"The Global Champions tour is what show-jumping needs. It's been running for nine years now and it only came to the UK last year.

"To maintain the level of interest in the sport you need top level competition. You need the top riders and horses and big prize money to create that interest and that's what the Longines Global Challenge tour does and part of the to ethos of the tour is to take to equestrian sport out of its traditional venues, staging it at iconic venues and you don't get much more iconic than this.

"It's great it's all part of maintaining that profile of the sport beyond London 2012. You need the support of then major broadcasters to maintain that level. If we weren't producing the top level competition the BBC would turn around a day no.

"Being where we are location wise helps as well, so it ticks so many boxes that hopefully the event will be a huge success and we will be able to do something very similar again.

"If we've got the sponsors and we provide good entertainment for the crowd and if the crowd and if the crowd go away and say, 'Do you know what that was a cracking day out then if they go away happy, our corporate guests go away happy and if the riders go away happy then that's considered a success."

"It is going to be a big few days," he said.

The London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour series will be held at Horse Guards Parade Ground in London from 14th to 16th August. For further information and tickets visit www.globalchampionstour.com

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