Wimbledon presenter Clare Balding once lifted the lid on the time she revealed she “nearly killed” Princess Anne during.
Before becoming a famous broadcast journalist, Clare had been competing as an amateur jockey and won a place on the BBC Graduate Trainee Scheme. Around the same time, she met Terry Wogan, which was a career-changing moment for Clare.
Clare Balding: Nearly ‘killing’ Princess Anne ‘wasn’t on purpose’
In an interview with The Telegraph, Clare recalled that she wrote to Terry when she was 13, asking for a signed photo.
Later, she met the iconic broadcaster at a charity event. After bonding, she was asked to do an interview on his show, Auntie’s Sporting Bloomers. In that conversation, she let slip that she once nearly killed Princess Anne during her days as a jockey.
“Well, it was in a race when I’d only been competing for a couple of years,” Clare explained.
“I got in her path, we collided and she was nearly unseated. I think she’s forgiven me. She knows I didn’t do it on purpose. Funnily enough, when she gave me my CBE, having previously presented me with an OBE, she leaned over and said: ‘Mmm, I think we’ve been through this before.'”
Anne, of course, was recently hospitalised due to an incident with a horse. However, various statements have suggested that she is now on the mend.
‘I have Terry to thank for that’
Following the interview, Clare received a call from a producer at BBC Radio 4 who had seen her interview with Terry. and, despite jokingly admitting that she nearly killed a royal, she had still made a huge positive impression.
On the call, Clare was asked whether she would like to present a walking show named Ramblings that they were planning.
“Twenty-five years later I’m still presenting Ramblings. So I have Terry to thank for that. Such a beautiful human being,” Clare continued.
Read more: Clare Balding on ‘misjudged’ comment about jockey who later died: ‘Very difficult to talk about’
Clare Balding hosts the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon over the next couple of weeks.
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