The clever way that Princess Anne and Zara Tindall are spending time together over lockdown

Faced with spending a month away from each other, Princess Anne and Zara Tindall have found an inventive way to skirt the lockdown rules.

• Princess Anne and Zara Tindall live near each other in Gloucestershire but can't see each other properly due to the lockdown rules.
• As they share a love of horse riding, the mother and daughter duo have decided to spend time together riding horses, as allowed under the government guidelines.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as the Queen is set to break from a major royal Christmas tradition for the first time in 33 years (opens in new tab).

Princess Anne and her daughter, Zara Tindall have found an inventive way to see each other during the lockdown without breaking any of the government's rules.

Under the November lockdown guidelines (opens in new tab), two people from different households can't meet indoors and no more than people from different households or support bubbles (opens in new tab) can meet outside. As Princess Anne and Zara live with their own spouses and Zara has children of her own, the two wouldn't be able to mix indoors.

However, exercising during lockdown (opens in new tab) with one other person who doesn't live in the same household or support bubble is allowed.

The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, and Zara Tindall have been horse riding together through the lockdown so far so that they can spend time with each other. How lovely!

As the two live close together, and both Zara and her mother have horses at stables close to their homes, she and Princess Anne can continue riding together throughout the month's lockdown without breaking any of the restrictions.

This was confirmed by The British Horse Society (BHS), who stated that "exercise outdoors is permitted and this includes horse riding."

The mother and daughter have long-since shared a love of horse riding since Zara followed in her Princess Anne's footsteps and became an Olympic equestrian. While Zara won silver with Team GB in the 2012 Olympic Games, her mother was actually the first British royal to ever compete in the events in 1976.

They share their passion for the sport and for horses with the Queen, as the three royals have attended dozens of equestrian events over the years together.