The moment Zara's gold dream ended: Royal's horror as her horse clips fence during show-jumping final

By KATHERINE FAULKNER

Out of step: Zara Phillips looks down in horror as her horse, High Kingdom, takes an extra step and clips the fence, costing her team crucial points during yesterday's equestrian eventing final

One misplaced step brought her hopes of gold crashing down.
Zara Phillips and her horse High Kingdom clipped a fence in the equestrian eventing final yesterday.
In that split second, the Queen’s granddaughter and her teammates narrowly lost out on the first British gold of the London Olympics.

Emotional: The Queen's granddaughter is comforted by her husband, former England rugby captain Mike Tindall after her performance

After an otherwise outstanding performance, the team took silver. But Zara’s delight was tinged with disappointment, and when husband Mike Tindall rushed to comfort her, she buried her face in his shoulder.
As the pole fell, there were gasps of horror from the royal spectators, including the Duchess of Cambridge and Princes William and Harry.

They've done it: Team GB's eventing team won the country's second silver medal of the London Games despite an early mistake by Zara Phillips (centre)

They knew Zara needed to put on a perfect show-jumping performance to take gold from the Germans. William and Kate were seen clapping their hands to their mouths in horror when the pole dropped to the floor, costing the team the crucial points.
Tindall immediately rushed backstage to the paddock to meet his wife.

Medal winners: Tina Cook (left) celebrates with Zara Phillips after winning Team GB's second silver medal of the Games

Afterwards, Zara, 31, said: ‘I made a mistake. He [High Kingdom] put a foot down... it was my fault. It punished me and us. Obviously, I’m disappointed.’
But over the three-day event, the performance by Zara – an Olympic debutant on an inexperienced horse – far surpassed anyone’s expectations.
She finished as the third-strongest member of the equestrian team, ranked eighth overall and beating the scores of world No 1 William Fox-Pitt and teammate Nicola Wilson.
And although her impressive performance wasn’t quite enough for gold, it was crucial in securing a well-deserved silver medal for the team.
When the result was finally announced, the royals – in their own way – went wild, with Kate raising her fists in the air and leading the family in delighted cheers.

Parading: Zara Phillips showed off her silver medal - Great Britain's second of the London Games

A smiling Princess Anne said: ‘She did very well.’ Her husband Tim Laurence added: ‘We’re very proud. It’s a fantastic silver medal.’
In a poignant moment, it fell to Anne to present her daughter with the Olympic medal she never managed to win herself.
After carefully placing the medal around Zara’s neck, the Princess Royal pulled her beaming daughter close for a kiss on each cheek, as Zara appeared to mouth: ‘Oh, Mum.’
Afterwards, Zara joked to reporters: ‘Whatever you do, don’t ask me what it was like to have my mother present me with the medal. Obviously, it was amazing.’

And the distinguished crowd - complete with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry - waved back

Not ideal: Zara Phillips knocked down a fence and incurred seven penalty points on the day

Zara and her horse High Kingdom knocked down one fence on their way around the course at Greenwich Park

Proud of you cousin: The Royals cheers on their cousin as her mistake goes unpunished and Team GB take silver

Fans cheer as Kristina Cook, of Great Britain, finishes her ride on Miners Frolic in the show jumping phase

source: dailymail