The Queen’s passion for horses is on display in unseen footage of Her Majesty

The Queen‘s lifelong love for horses is on display in new unseen footage where she affectionately pets and feeds the animals in Sandringham.

The monarch, 96, described one of the horses as an ‘extraordinary girl’ and is heard to say she wonders what goes through the creature’s head.

The clips, filmed at the Royal Stud in Sandringham in April, will be shown in a special feature as part of ITV‘s Saturday Platinum Jubilee coverage.

The Queen, a keen horseracing fan, will not attend the Epsom Derby this weekend, but will be watching on television.

In the clips, the monarch, wearing a black coat and with a floral headscarf wrapped around her head, observed various horses and foals, alongside her trusted bloodstock and racing adviser John Warren.

Mr Warren, who has been an adviser to the monarch for more than 13 years and also represents other leading horse owners from across the globe, was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) in the latest Queen’s honours.

Gently stroking the coat of one of the horses, the Queen is heard to say: ‘Well it must be three or four years when she came down into Windsor yard, but behaved as though she’d always been there.’

Admiring the horse, she added: ‘Extraordinary girl, aren’t you?’

Another clip showed the Queen asking a horse ‘would you like another one?’, before picking a carrot from a bowl and feeding it.

Later, observing two horses walking alongside each other in the yard, the Queen is heard to say: ‘I often wonder what goes through her head’. 

Trainer Sir Michael Stoute and jockey Ryan Moore also feature in the ITV special with presenter Ed Chamberlin, which was filmed at The Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket in May.

In the ITV feature, Mr Moore praised the Queen for letting him ride with ‘complete freedom’.

He said: ‘There is no pressure at all… she’s always let me ride with complete freedom and it’s been a tremendous honour for me.’

Her Majesty’s fondness of horses began when she was just four after her grandfather, King George V, gave her a little Shetland pony. 

By the age of six she had fallen in love with riding, becoming an accomplished equestrian in her teenage years and has continued to ride for pleasure throughout her life.

From her first appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour to 1986, the monarch would attend the ceremony on horseback.

She first attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show as a horse-mad teenager in 1943. Together with Princess Margaret, the 17-year-old showed off her equestrian prowess by winning the Pony & Dogcart class.

The Queen owns several thoroughbreds for racing after she initially inherited King George’s breeding and racing stock following his death in February 1952.

In 1974, the monarch’s interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title, The Queen’s Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated.

In May, the Queen attended the Windsor Horse Show and was also the guest of honour at the equestrian extravaganza A Gallop Through History, the first major event of the Jubilee festivities.

The Queen will not attend the Epsom Derby tomorrow, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The monarch, who is said to be ‘fine’ despite the announcement, is however expected to watch the major sporting event on television from Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

The news comes after Her Majesty was forced to pull out of today’s Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, with Buckingham Palace saying she was suffering from ‘discomfort’ following her appearances yesterday.

The Queen appeared twice on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch Trooping the Colour and the flypast of 71 aircraft and then travelled back to Windsor Castle to light the first in a chain of more than 3,500 Platinum Jubilee beacons.

The Queen has been forced to cancel a string of engagements in recent months and most recently missed the State Opening of Parliament in May. Her son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William, stood in for her.

Today’s service at St Paul’s was attended by more than 2,000 guests, including senior royals and politicians.

Harry and Meghan Markle were kept apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla, with royal aides ensuring they sat on the other side of the aisle – and they later left separately.

Straight afterwards, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate arrived for a reception the nearby Guildhall.

The Duchess of Cambridge is said to have told an attendee the Queen is ‘fine’ but had found the day ‘very tiring’.

Gill Smallwood, from Bolton spoke with Kate and asked how the Queen was doing.

Ms Smallwood said of the conversation: ‘She [Kate] said ‘yes, she was fine, it was just very tiring yesterday, and she (the Queen) had had a lovely, lovely time’.’

Buckingham Palace officials took great care to try to avoid a repeat of the frosty scenes when the Sussexes and Cambridges sat near each other and left together at their last joint event in March 2020 at Westminster Abbey.

And aides would have been delighted that today’s service passed without any such incident or negative ‘optics’ given the attempts to ensure today was about the Queen and her 70-year reign.

The Queen – a passionate horse owner and breeder – would have been looking forward to seeing her horse running on Saturday during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Despite ‘episodic’ mobility issues that forced her to miss the State Opening of Parliament, Her Majesty has attended a string of engagements in recent weeks, including the Chelsea Flower Show and the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Her appearances yesterday delighted Britons who had turned out in the tens of thousands in central London and Windsor in the hope of catching a glimpse of Her Majesty.

Today’s Guildhall attendee Ms Smallwood added that Kate also said Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte also ‘had a lovely time’ at yesterday’s celebrations.

All three Cambridge children appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, with Prince Louis, aged four, delighting fans with his animated display.

Ms Smallwood, chief executive of domestic violence charity Fortalice, was made an MBE in the New Year honours and was among those invited to the St Paul’s service and a reception at the Guildhall afterwards.

She said it had been a ‘real honour’ to be at the service and described it as ‘absolutely beautiful’.

The announcement that she would not attend the St Paul’s service came before she lit the principle beacon at Windsor Castle.

The Palace said: ‘The Queen greatly enjoyed today’s Birthday Parade and Flypast but did experience some discomfort.’

In a full statement a spokesperson added: ‘Taking into account the journey and activity required participate in tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, Her Majesty with great reluctance has concluded that she will not attend.’

‘The Queen is looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle and would like to thank all those who made today such a memorable occasion.’

Today’s announcement about Her Majesty missing the Epsom Derby is the latest sign of the problems caused by the monarch’s advancing age.

In May, she was forced to miss the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years, due to what her spokesman described as ‘episodic mobility problems’ which they said she was continuing to experience.

The only other times she had missed the hugely important occasion were in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.

In her place, Prince Charles, who was accompanied by Prince William, read her speech for the first time as the Queen watched on TV from Windsor Castle, but the Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords remained symbolically empty.

Palace’s plan to get Queen ready for Sunday’s Jubilee finale: Royal aides are taking a ‘bookend’ approach to four-day celebrations in hope of getting monarch back on royal balcony for Sunday’s showstopper pageant – after Epsom Derby disappointment 

ByLaurence Dollimore For Mailonlineand Rebecca English For Daily Mail 

Royal aides are said to be taking a ‘bookend’ approach to the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee celebrations as they prioritise getting the monarch on the Buckingham Palace balcony for Sunday’s show-stopping finale pageant. 

It comes after the 96-year-old head of state was forced to pull out of two key events after suffering ‘discomfort’ related to her mobility issues – Friday’s thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral and Saturday’s Epsom Derby. 

The Queen has been forced to cancel a string of engagements in recent months and most recently missed the State Opening of Parliament in May. Her son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William, stood in for her. 

A senior royal source told the Daily Mail that while the Queen enjoyed the opening day of festivities ‘immensely’, the ‘episodic mobility issues’ she had suffered since last autumn ‘were experienced during the course of the day’.

Royal aides stressed that it had always been Her Majesty’s ‘hope’ to attend rather than a firm commitment. 

Buckingham Palace said it will confirm whether she will attend other events over the next two days as soon as possible. 

It is thought royal aides may be trying to help her rest to ensure she will be able to make an appearance at Sunday’s closing Platinum Jubilee Pageant. 

‘It seems the palace are taking a ‘book-end’ approach, allowing her to attend at the start and finish without taxing her too much in between,’ a source said.

On Thursday it emerged that the Duke of York, who has had contact with the Queen recently, had Covid, meaning he would be a no-show at any future Jubilee event. 

On Friday, the Duchess of Cambridge revealed that the Queen had a ‘lovely’ time at the opening Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but had found the day ‘very tiring’.

Her Majesty made three memorable public appearances on Thursday, including the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon ceremony at Windsor Castle, but had experienced ‘some discomfort’.

Her attendance at the Epsom Derby had been considered one of the high spots of the weekend’s events, particularly for royal herself. 

It is the only one of the ‘classics’ she has never won in her long career as a racehorse owner.

The Jockey Club had spent the past few months making extensive plans to facilitate her attendance, including allowing her car to drive right up the course and pull up outside the Queen Elizabeth stand where the Royal Box is located. 

But on Friday afternoon Buckingham Palace announced that she had decided not to attend, and would instead watch the racing on television at Windsor Castle.

Princess Anne is now expected to represent her mother at Epsom and is likely to be accompanied by her family. 

No other senior royals will be there as many have engagements on behalf of the Queen elsewhere or will be preparing for Saturday night’s Party at the Palace concert.

Phil White, London regional director for The Jockey Club, said: ‘It is a rare occasion that the Queen is unable to join us at Epsom, but we are delighted she plans to enjoy Derby Day on television. 

‘We have big plans to celebrate Her Majesty’s contribution to horseracing and the nation, and these will continue in full.’

The plans include many of the Queen’s former jockeys, such as Willie Carson, forming a guard of honour in her distinctive racing silks.

Friday’s service at St Paul’s was attended by more than 2,000 guests, including senior royals and politicians. 

Harry and Meghan Markle were kept apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla, with royal aides ensuring they sat on the other side of the aisle – and they later left separately.

Straight afterwards, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate arrived for a reception the nearby Guildhall.

The Duchess of Cambridge is said to have told an attendee the Queen is ‘fine’ but had found the day ‘very tiring’.

Gill Smallwood, from Bolton, spoke with Kate and asked how the Queen was doing.

Ms Smallwood said of the conversation: ‘She [Kate] said ‘yes, she was fine, it was just very tiring yesterday, and she (the Queen) had had a lovely, lovely time’.’

Buckingham Palace officials took great care to try to avoid a repeat of the frosty scenes when the Sussexes and Cambridges sat near each other and left together at their last joint event in March 2020 at Westminster Abbey.

And aides would have been delighted that today’s service passed without any such incident or negative ‘optics’ given the attempts to ensure today was about the Queen and her 70-year reign.

The announcement about Her Majesty missing the Epsom Derby is the latest sign of the problems caused by the monarch’s advancing age.  

In May, she was forced to miss the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years, due to what her spokesman described as ‘episodic mobility problems’ which they said she was continuing to experience. 

The only other times she had missed the hugely important occasion were in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.  

In her place, Prince Charles, who was accompanied by Prince William, read her speech for the first time as the Queen watched on TV from Windsor Castle, but the Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords remained symbolically empty. 

It came after she had to skip the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in mid-March due to her physical struggles and also did not attend the traditional Maundy Thursday service at Windsor Castle. 

The Queen’s health took a turn for the worse after her husband Prince Philip’s death last April. 

In October 2021 – after working ten of the previous 20 days – she spent a rare night in hospital that forced her to miss a visit to Northern Ireland. 

But she was back at her desk within hours of being discharged, despite having to cancel an appearance at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

In February, she tested positive for Covid-19 which prompted her to cancel a series of engagements, including virtual audiences. She suffered from what were described as ‘mild, cold-like symptoms’.

The Queen, who in recent weeks has used a walking stick – including at yesterday’s events – was told by doctors to rest for three months.

She gave a hint about her health when she remarked during an audience at Windsor Castle in February: ‘Well, as you can see, I can’t move.’

She later admitted that covid had left her exhausted. 

Her Majesty’s hopes of winning on Epsom Derby day have already come to an end after her only runner was pulled out of a race. 

Just Fine had been entered to feature in the penultimate race, the World Pool Northern Dancer Handicap, staged over the full Derby course and distance of one mile and four furlongs.

However, it was removed at Thursday’s 48-hour declaration stage.

In May, her horse Reach For The Moon, who was among the favourites, and two others were withdrawn.

The Jockey Club announced the three thoroughbreds were among a large number who had been ‘scratched’ from the entry list.

Thoroughbreds owned by the Queen have won four out of the five flat racing classics – the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, the Oaks and the St Leger – with only the Derby eluding her.

Phil White, London regional director for The Jockey Club, said today: ‘We would like to wish Her Majesty The Queen a wonderful Platinum Jubilee.

‘It is a rare occasion that the Queen is unable to join us at Epsom Downs but we are delighted she plans to enjoy Derby Day on television.

‘We have big plans to celebrate Her Majesty’s contribution to horseracing and the nation, and these will continue in full tomorrow.

‘The Derby is a unique race and we are looking forward to welcoming people in their thousands to help us create a spectacular carnival atmosphere.’