Britain's Zara Phillips carried the Olympic torch on horseback in Cheltenham yesterday (23.05.12).
The 31-year-old royal rode the entire length of the finishing straight at Cheltenham Racecourse on Toytown - the horse she retired last year after winning world and European eventing titles - on the fifth day of the Olympic torch relay in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
More than 16,500 people - including Zara's mother, Princess Anne, who received the flame in Greece last week - turned out to see the blonde equestrian ride down on the track, with the 'Chariots of Fire' theme playing in the background.
After dismounting Toytown, Zara - who is married to England rugby player Mike Tindall, who plays for nearby Gloucester RFC - lit the Olympic cauldron, a duty traditionally carried out by the last torchbearer of each day.
From the stage, Zara - the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth - was full of praise for the "awesome" job Toytown did, and she admitted the occasion was a "massive honour".
She told the audience: "It was unbelievable, I'm shaking. It was an unbelievable experience and I am massively honoured for doing it.
"It's unreal the amount of people that are here. Such a massive honour.
"It's not too heavy when you pick it up but if you're carrying it for a little while you can feel a little burn."
Earlier in the day, thousands of fans turned out to see Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba carry the torch in Swindon, Wiltshire, while the oldest torchbearer of the day was 91-year-old Mary Wixey, a former Games mistress, who took part in the Cheltenham leg.
The torch started yesterday's journey in Bristol before travelling through a number of towns and cities in Somerset - where the convoy missed a turning resulting in a 10-mile delay - and Wiltshire before arriving in Gloucestershire.
The flame has visited Gloucester Cathedral this morning (24.05.12) on its way through Gloucestershire to Worcestershire, where it will finish the day at Worcester County Cricket Club's New Road stadium.
The 8,000-mile, 70-day trip around the UK will see 8,000 people carry the torch before the iconic symbol ends its journey at the Olympic Stadium in London on July 27, the first day of the Games.
