Looking brolly good! Zara Tindall hoists her umbrella as she braves the rain at Cheltenham races with her good friend Dolly Maude

Zara Tindall gave a wry smile to the cameras as she braved the rain at Cheltenham races today with her close friend Dolly Maude. 

The pair grinned as they huddled together beneath an umbrella to attend the final day of The William Hill Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse. 

The long-term friends looked in good spirits despite the bad weather, Storm Boelo became the second storm in one week to hit the country. 

The royal and the former NHS midwife have been regular attendees of the Cheltenham races and Royal Ascot events together, often being pictured sharing a joke and a wry smile. 

Dolly Maude has been connected to the royal family for years and became Princess Anne's lady in waiting in 2024. 

The 53-year-old famously helped to deliver Zara Tindall's third child Lucas on a bathroom floor when her birthing plan went awry in 2021 and has been a close friend of the King's niece for over two decades. 

With a shared love of horses, Dolly and Zara quickly grew close and briefly lived together in 2003 after the royal's relationship with her fiancé Richard Johnson ended. 

Zara and the jockey had dated from 1998 and lived in the Cotswolds together, leaving the Princess Royal's daughter in need of somewhere to call home. 

The pair remained close as Zara and former rugby union player Mike Tindall's friendship blossomed into a romance just months later, in 2004. 

Dolly was maid of honour at Zara and Mike's wedding in 2011, and has been present at the birth of all three of their children - Mia, 12, Lena, eight, and five-year-old Lucas. 

The former England rugby player has even described Dolly as 'more important than I am', given her role in assisting Zara when she went into labour at their Gatcombe Park home with her son, Lucas. 

Dolly is also married to former jockey-turned-valet Chris Maude and still lives close to her friend Zara in the Cotswolds.