Queen Elizabeth II has this Friday vibe, wearing a wide smile and sunglasses doing her favorite thing – Spending time with the horses.
The 96-year-old Queen attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Friday where she was driven by a chauffeur as she hilariously greeted the horses from the car window. The competition is a four-day event and is often seen as one of the Queen’s favorites, as herself a passionate equine aficionado.
Taking place this year during the Queen’s celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, this year’s show will include Enemy Through History, which features a 90-minute program showcasing more than 500 horses and 1,000 artists.
Queen Elizabeth’s love for horsemanship runs deep. She possesses a lot for breeding and racing, and has been riding since a young age. To celebrate her 96th birthday in April, she posed alongside two of her ponies, Bebek Katie and Bebek Nightingale.
In her first public photo during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, she showed off her riding skills and rode in the saddle at the age of 94.
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Her public appearance on Friday comes on the back of the cancellation of several appearances planned earlier this month.
Buckingham Palace announced that it missed the opening of Parliament on Monday due to ongoing mobility issues.
This was only the third time in 70 years that the British throne had been absent from this event. In a statement to USA TODAY, the palace said the Queen had consulted with her doctors and “reluctantly” decided not to attend because she had occasional mobility issues.
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Instead, Prince Charles, the direct heir to the British throne, read her speech that set the government’s agenda for the next parliamentary session. Prince William also attended.
At the beginning of May, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen would miss the traditional Royal Garden party season, when she would normally meet hundreds of people on the grounds of her London and Edinburgh residences. She was represented by other members of the royal family instead.
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In February, the Queen tested positive for COVID-19, a few weeks after Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla tested positive. The palace said the Queen suffered from mild cold-like symptoms. She has since recovered and attended a few public events while still holding virtual audiences regularly.
Contributing: Hana Yachoff, Maria Puente
