KATE MIDDLETON AND PRINCE WILLIAM BAG FRONT ROW SEATS AT THE OLYMPICS! By Eleanor Young - Tuesday 24 July 2012 (MARIE CLAIRE)

As official Ambassadors of the London 2012 Olympics, the lucky Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have bagged the best seats in the house for some of the most hotly-anticipated sporting events.

According to officials, William and Kate, together with Prince Harry, will cheer on cousin Zara Phillips in the equestrian events, with Prince William also scheduled to attend Team GB football at Wembley, Tennis at Wimbledon and Athletics, including the men’s 100m final.

Meanwhile, Kate Middleton will reportedly watch the swimming, sailing, diving and hockey, and Prince Harry the Beach Volleyball on Horse Guards Parade.

One royal aide told the Telegraph: 'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have been tremendously excited about the Olympics for a long time and want to throw themselves in to the Games and help out as much as they can.

'They will be out and about for much of the two weeks, but as well as watching the sports and meeting many of the athletes and visiting dignitaries, they hope to meet a whole cross-section of people, from volunteers to cooks in the Olympic village, who will make the Games a success.'

Another insider added Kate Middleton is 'especially pleased she can watch the women’s hockey team because she has trained with them.'

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Hugh Bonneville: 'How the hell are you organising the Olympic games?' Zara Phillips lambasts 2012 organisers in spoof sketch for Sport Relief (MAIL ON LINE)

By ALANAH ERIKSEN
PUBLISHED: 18:12 EST, 23 March 2012 |
UPDATED: 18:53 EST, 23 March 2012

She has hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics.

So when the PR team in charge of the event failed in their pitch on how Zara Phillips could promote the games, she was obviously unimpressed. The 30-year-old, 13th in line to the throne, was left annoyed during a hilarious sketch for Sport Relief.

Zara and rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave were seen meeting with the fictional characters of the BBC comedy series, Twenty Twelve.

Ian Fletcher, played by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, led an incompetent team who were unable to come up with ideas on how the pair could push the games during Sport Relief.


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'Downton races' fall at the last as show's stately setting pulls plug on equestrian event (MAIL ON LINE)

It is the stately setting for the hit TV period drama Downton Abbey, in which some of the key action takes place on horseback. But Highclere Castle has pulled the plug on the leading equestrian event it has hosted for 25 years over fears that the horses are churning up the grounds. The annual Highclere Horse Trials, which attracts Olympic-class riders such as the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips, is having to move from the Hampshire estate after the owners of the castle, Lord and Lady Carnarvon, proposed a hike in fees.

The organisers of the annual three-day event said the castle, which has seen visitor numbers double since the ITV series started in 2010, ‘felt that they could no longer accommodate the trials, withother events and commitments at the castle taking precedence’.

Lord and Lady Carnarvon became so concerned about the disruption and damage to the grounds, where the third series of Downton Abbey is now being filmed, that they wanted to raise the rent or slash the number of horses at the event.


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