Cotswold Life magazine has secured an exclusive interview with Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Phillips.
Phillips, 10th in line to the throne and a Cotswolds resident, turned down other requests for interviews to speak exclusively to Cotswold Life and do an informal photo shoot.
Publisher Peter Waters said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and our biggest-ever story. Zara doesn’t do interviews normally, but we’ve been after her for the past six months.
We were one of six interview requests, including some very high-profile national magazines, put in front of her by Cheltenham Racecourse as part of her work for its Club 16-24. She chose only to do ours.”
According to Waters, when Phillips was asked why she’d chosen Cotswold Life, she replied: “I wanted to do something with a magazine that race-goers would read. And people round here all read Horse & Hound, Country Life and Cotswold Life.”
Katie Jarvis, the magazine’s chief writer, did the interview and the pictures were taken by freelance Mark Fairhurst.
Waters claimed the Cotswolds was popular with members of the royal family and celebrities because their privacy was respected and they were not mobbed by autograph hunters. “Cotswold Life doesn’t make a big deal of these people either – they appear regularly in our society diary picture pages and are just seen as part of the scenery,” he added.
The scoop follows the magazine’s record sale of 12,800 in August. Archant Life, which publishes the title, is now hoping to exceed that number with the November issue featuring Phillips.
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