Britain’s Queen Elizabeth attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show last night. The annual horse spectacle was entirely devoted to the Queen’s seventieth regnal year and is the official kick-off of her Jubilee celebrations.
One thousand participants and five hundred horses showed their equestrian skills, from the Norwegian Kingsguard and the Oman Cavalry to riders from Azerbaijan and the Canadian Mounties. Granddaughter Louise led a carriage procession in honor of Prince Philip, who passed away last year. The show was broadcast live on TV.
In addition to performances by horses, there was also music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins. Highlights of Britain’s past passed by under the motto ‘Galloping through history’, for which actress Helen Mirren dressed up as the predecessor and namesake of the current Queen, Elizabeth I.
Mirren thanked the Queen “on behalf of all your loyal subjects” and expressed admiration for her “unshakable hope, support and leadership” over the past seventy years. “We commend and admire the manner in which you conduct the affairs of state with skill and dignity.”
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