Britain's Zara Phillips feels "lucky" not to be a princess.

Zara Phillips

Zara Phillips

The 34-year-old eventer and her brother Peter were not given royal titles by their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, at the request of their parents Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and she is pleased with the decision because it gave her more freedom.

Asked if she thinks her life would be different if she were a princess, she said: "Probably. But I can't really answer that. I'm very lucky both my parents decided not to use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do."

Zara - who has 17-month-old daughter Mia with husband Mike Tindall - was famously viewed as a royal rebel and wild child when she was younger, especially after having her tongue pierced, but she insists her behaviour wouldn't have been regarded as anything out of the ordinary if it weren't for her background.

Speaking in an interview with The Times newspaper, she said: "I don't know if I was that wild.

"I guess it looked like that because of my family background. I'm sure that is what it's probably compared to."