National Post (National Edition)
THE QUEEN, A PONY & THE PANDEMIC.
BREAK FROM ROYAL DUTIES MEANS MONARCH HAS TIME FOR PERSONAL INTERESTS
Queen Elizabeth’s love of horses has been among her interests that have helped the 94-year-old monarch keep her spirits up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have been in lockdown at Windsor Castle since March 19.
And the Queen, who has been riding regularly, was photographed going for a ride on Balmoral Fern, a 14-year-old fell pony, on Sunday
“It was remarkable to see her looking so well,” says Hugo Vickers, biographer of the Queen Mother, the Duchess of Windsor and Queen Mary. “Her daily riding is her main exercise, though she also walks her dogs. I think the nation needs reminders that the Queen is fit and well during these strange times.”
It’s the longest time the Queen and Duke have spent together, without royal duties intervening, for many years, and her longest absence from said duties throughout her 68-year reign.
The Duke, who turns 99 on Wednesday of next week, retired to Park Farm on the Sandringham Estate after standing down from public duties in 2017, but was taken by helicopter to their Berkshire residence before the restrictions. The Queen would usually have returned to Buckingham Palace after her Easter break before leaving for her summer break in Balmoral at the end of July. Instead, it is thought the couple will remain at Windsor, where they retain separate apartments but join each other for lunch and dinner.
It has been speculated that the Queen may not return to public-facing duties at all until a vaccine has been developed. But having famously remarked she has to be seen to be believed, she has retained a public presence, with two televised addresses to the nation: a coronavirus message and another to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE-Day.
She has also been receiving parliamentary updates via red ministerial boxes and continuing her weekly audience with the Prime Minister — on her marvellously retro, cream telephone with its squiggly cord.
And, most days, she has seen her beloved horses, too — driving herself in order to keep contact with others to a minimum, and making her way to Home Park for her ride. Terry Pendry, her head groom, usually rides two metres apart from her.
He also changed the exercise route of the Queen’s horses, so they can walk past her window. During the crisis, the Queen has usually ridden a favourite black pony, Carltonlima Emma, named after the stud near Leeds where she was bred. And on her 94th birthday, on April 21, all the Queen’s horses were paraded in front of her and Prince Philip.
The Queen’s official birthday in Canada is marked on Victoria Day, which fell on May 18 this year. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau phoned her to wish her well.
“We talked about the state of the world, COVID-19 and more,” Trudeau said in a tweet. “I also thanked her for the hopeful messages she has sent during these difficult times, and I wished her the very best this Victoria Day.”
In London, her official birthday is celebrated in mid-June with a Trooping of the Colour military parade. It has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.
Despite being in isolation, the Queen has been keeping in touch with her family and has been FaceTiming her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are in their Birkhall residence on the Balmoral estate.
Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — have been isolating in their country estate Anmer Hall in Norfolk, about 190 km north of London.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markel and their son Archie are isolating in Los Angeles.
The Queen’s chats, and the time spent with her horses and ponies, have kept her going during the 10 weeks since restrictions began.
Though their lockdown is certainly less arduous than most, the Queen and Duke have been confined to private apartments in the Upper Ward, along with a team of hand-picked staff who are also self-isolating — among them, Paul Whybrew, the page of the backstairs, and Sir Edward Young, her private secretary. Angela Kelly, her senior dresser, drives from her home in Windsor Great Park in a disinfected car. Tony Johnstone-Burt, master of the household and a former Royal Navy officer, has referred to the Queen’s isolation team as “HMS Bubble” — a joke she and the Duke are said to have much enjoyed, as his nickname was “Big Bubble” when he served in the Navy during the war.
In an email to staff Johnstone-Burt wrote: “There are 22 Royal Household staff inside the Bubble, and it struck me that our predicament is not dissimilar to my former life in the Royal Navy on a long overseas deployment.
“The challenges that we are facing, whether self-isolating alone at home, or with our close household and families, have parallels with being at sea, away from home for many months, and having to deal with a sense of dislocation, anxiety and uncertainty. Regardless of the roles we perform, we do them to an exceptional standard to allow the Queen and other members to do their duty to the best of their ability, too.”
The lockdown is just beginning to ease in the United Kingdom. And the first horse race was held Monday, behind closed doors, in Newcastle upon Tyne, about 460 km north of London.
There have been more than 274,700 coronavirus cases in the country and about 38,490 deaths.