Phillips and her horse ‘High Kingdom’ clipped a fence costing the team the crucial points.

As the pole fell, there were gasps of horror from the royal spectators as Phillips needed to put on a perfect show-jumping performance to take gold from Germans.

After an otherwise outstanding performance Phillips and her team managed to earn silver but Phillips’ delighted was tinged with disappointment.

The Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge along with Prince Harry were present to root for their cousin.

Afterwards, Phillips, 31, said, “I made a mistake. He [High Kingdom] put a foot down... it was my fault. It punished me and us. Obviously, I’m disappointed.”

But, being debutant in Olympics, with an inexperienced horse, Phillips far surpassed everyone’s expectations with outstanding performance.

She finished as the third-strongest member of the equestrian team, ranked eighth overall and beating the scores of world No.1 William Fox-Pitt and teammate Nicola Wilson.