Snaps catch the Queen’s delight at Royal Windsor Horse Show

Queen Elizabeth was at one of her favourite events of the year, and she showed it with a huge smile.

The Royal Windsor Horse show, Britain’s biggest outdoor horse show, is on in the grounds of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, and the monarch’s delight at roughing it with the horses and other horse fans on day three of the event, May 12, was plain to see.

She was snapped having an animated conversation with the King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalia and her son Prince Andrew at the show, while wearing a sensible kerchief over her head, an overcoat and sturdy flat lace-ups. The Queen kept up her beaming smile as she mingled with owners and riders on the grounds.

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She was particularly pleased on day two of the event, May 11, when her horse Barber’s Shop won The Tattersalls and RoR Thoroughbred Ridden Show Series Championship for the second day of the year.

Meanwhile, Prince Phillip got a chance to indulge his love of carriage racing, something he’ll have more time for once he retires from public duties at the age of 95 in August. He helped establish the sport after giving up playing polo in his 80s and kept competing into his 80s.

He reportedly told a US contestant at the horse show, Misdee Wrigley Miller that the rough racing frequently left is “Balmoral dog cart” smashed up. 

“I was looking round to see what next [after polo], I didn’t know what there was available. And I suddenly thought, well, we’ve got horses and carriages so why don’t I have a go,” he said, according to The Telegraph. “So I borrowed four horses from the stables in London, took them to Norfolk and practised and thought – why not?”

The public can buy tickets to the horse show in what is effectively the Queen’s country garden, which features five days of show jumping, dressage and a Land Rover grand prix.

Do you like to see the Queen looking so happy and, well, normal?