The Princess Royal told a women's sports pioneer that sport "used to be a lot of old grey men" but is "gradually changing" during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Dr Anita White, founder of the Women in Sport charity, received her Commander of the British Empire (CBE) honour on Tuesday.
Dr White, who captained England's field hockey team to World Cup victory in 1975, said the Princess Royal asked about her sporting background during their conversation. The former left wing told Anne how little recognition her team received at the time, which sparked her decades-long campaign for gender equality in sport.
Royal recognition for sports equality
"We spoke about how sport had changed, how it used to be a lot of old grey men running sport and how gradually it is changing," Dr White told the PA news agency. She founded the International Working Group on Women and Sport and the Anita White Foundation alongside her main charity.
At Windsor Castle, Dr White reconnected with Penny Briscoe, ParalympicsGB's chef de mission, who had also just received a CBE. The pair had not seen each other since Briscoe attended a leadership development course organised by Dr White two decades ago.
Progress at the top level
Dr White said the "huge change" she has witnessed during her career has been "at the top level" of sport. She pointed to the attention garnered by the Lionesses squad and the increasing number of female sports presenters and women in leadership roles.
However, she warned against complacency, saying some people might think "because we see women in the media, we've cracked it - women in sport has been done and dusted - but of course that isn't the case". Dr White highlighted ongoing challenges with how girls are socialised, particularly their concerns about appearance on social media.
Paralympic success recognised
Briscoe, director of sport at the British Paralympic Association, has been selected as chef de mission for Los Angeles 2028. Anne greeted her with "not you again" as she collected her medal, Briscoe revealed.
ParalympicsGB finished second in the medal table at the Paris Games last year, winning 124 medals across 18 sports. LA 2028 will mark Briscoe's 12th Paralympics and sixth as chef de mission, a role she first fulfilled at the 2014 winter Games in Sochi.
Transformation since London 2012
Briscoe said Paralympic sport "stepped out of the shadows" at the 2012 London Olympics, marking a turning point for the movement. Before London, despite having great athletes and performances, "the media hadn't embraced para sport", she explained.
"It wasn't until our home Games, where every stadium was full - venues, the sport presentation, and the media, every kind of media, embraced para sport," Briscoe said. She emphasised how the platform now enables athletes "to have that voice, to demand changes in society".
Before joining ParalympicsGB in 2001, Briscoe competed as a canoeist at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics before transitioning to coaching. Dr White said she continues working to get more women into high-performance coaching roles.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
