Queen drives herself to Royal Windsor Horse Show
(Picture: PA)The Queen drove her iconic Range Rover to one of her favourite events in a busy schedule on her return to Windsor Castle.
The monarch, 95, had been on a whistle-stop tour of Scotland all week but managed to get back just in time for her much loved Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Sat behind the wheel of her Range Rover, the Queen drove herself the short distance from Windsor Castle down to the showground before playing host to the German Chancellor.
Beaming, the Queen joined equestrian fans and tilted her glasses to inspect the ponies on show.
The event is a private occasion for the Queen who dresses informally and mingles with the other visitors and members of the public.
In a special enclosure reserved for the monarch, she watched as horses and ponies – including some of her own animals – were put on display as they competed in various classes.
When some of the ponies were brought on to the showground, the Queen could be seen laughing and smiling.
She has been attending the show for decades, and as teenager in 1943 won a first prize at the event for driving a utility vehicle harnessed to her black fell pony – a trophy she won again the following year.
The Queen will hold an audience with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Windsor Castle later on Friday.
Mrs Merkel will meet the monarch at the Berkshire residence during her final visit to the UK before she steps down as Chancellor just days after England’s 2-0 win over Germany.
It comes as a statue of the Queen was toppled during protests in Canada over the discovery of unmarked graves of indigenous children.
🚨 | NEW: Statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II have been toppled during protests in Canada
— Politics For All (@PoliticsForAlI) July 2, 2021
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A statue of Queen Victoria was also pulled down during demonstrations in Winnipeg on Thursday amid growing anger over Canada’s notorious residential schools.
Some 150,000 indigenous children were sent to the institutions up to 1996, having opened in 1867, during Victoria’s reign. Many were subjected to cruel conditions under the policy of forced assimilation.
