According to a new report, the wife of King Charless III is chosen to take over the role from the late Queen is because of her adoration and admiration for the sport.
- Sep 12, 2022
AceShowbiz - Queen Consort Camilla will reportedly take over from the late Queen Elizabeth as the royal family's horse racing figurehead. According to The Mail on Sunday, her adoration and admiration for the sport makes her a perfect fit for the role.
"I think now it will be Camilla - she will be the figurehead. The plan has always been that Charles and Camilla would take on the legacy," a racing source said to the publication. "Camilla obviously adores horses and is hugely passionate about racing. She really loves it, particularly Cheltenham, the jumps. I think there's a pretty clear plan, given the Queen's passion and love for racehorses."
A formal review of the Royal Stud, thoroughbreds and breeding horses is expected to be ordered by the Queen Consort's husband King Charles in the coming weeks. The king will inherit around two dozen racehorses and about 80 brood mares from the royal stable.
Despite being a keen amateur jockey in the 1980s, he is not said to be as keen on horse racing as Queen Consort Camilla. The Mail on Sunday reports the Queen Consort and king are "committed to ensuring the continued success of Royal Ascot in Berkshire".
Queen Elizabeth's horse trainer John Warren once said, "If the Queen were not the Queen, she would have made a wonderful trainer." He added the Queen Consort was "absolutely besotted by racing".
The Queen's family are said to have spent years joking the only people who could easily reach her on the phone were her racing managers. The monarch was given first pony aged four, a Shetland named Peggy, from her grandfather George V. When she turned six, she was able to ride and control the horse.
She had 1,600 winners, including victory in four of the five British Classic races. In an image to mark her 96th birthday in April, the Queen was pictured with a huge smile holding the reins between two white fell ponies.
