In a new book to mark the Platinum Jubilee, titled There Once Is A Queen, Sir Michael Morpurgo discusses the origins of the Queen’s lifelong fondness for the animal. According to the Times, it was during a lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2016 that the monarch and the children’s author began to ‘talk – and talk – about horses’, which inspired his upcoming ‘fairy story’. The former Children’s Laureate writes that the Queen spoke ‘very very movingly’ on the subject and revealed to Morpurgo how much she had loved his book, War Horse.
According to the author, the Queen’s lifelong passion for horses ‘began as a child when she stroked the neck of a pony, which felt like “warm velvet”’. The Queen was given her first Shetland pony, Peggy, on her fourth birthday as a gift from her grandfather, King George V. She learned to ride in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace when she was three, and was able to ride alone by the age of six.
The Queen and Prince Philip were often pictured together at Sandringham visiting the horses on the royal estate. The Queen was recently photographed being driven to visit the horses at the Norfolk residence, accompanied by racing manager and long-term friend, John Warren.
