The Queen
(Picture: PA Wire)France is to present the Queeen with a horse to mark her Platinum Jubilee, the French Embassy has announced.
As the UK prepares to celebrate the longest reign in the history of the British monarchy, France is also planning a series of events and tributes to mark the Queen’s 70 years as head of state.
In a statement, the French Embassy said France will present the Queen with a horse named Fabuleux de Maucourt, as well as a ceremonial saddle and a cavalry sabre.
It added the seven year old standard-bearer for the Garde Républicaine was part of President Emmanuel Macron’s escort on the Champs-Elysées during the VE Day commemorations earlier this month.
It will be presented in Windsor to the Master of the Horse, one of the Royal Household’s most senior dignitaries, it said.
“France wanted to be involved in events taking place in the UK and the Commonwealth States as a way of paying tribute to the Queen, of whom the French are very fond, and celebrating Franco-British friendship,” the statement said.
The Queen has had a keen interest in horses and horse racing throughout her life and has won four of the five flat racing classics with the Derby the only trophy to elude her.
She had been expected to attend the race meeting at Epsom on Saturday, one of the highlights of the racing calendar but it is thought she may not now attend in order to pace herself over a busy weekend of celebrations.
To mark her 96th birthday in April, the Queen was pictured with two of her fell ponies ahead of a special Royal Windsor Horse Show for the jubilee, called “A Gallop through History”, featuring more than 500 horses.
In other events to celebrate the monarch’s 70 year reign, the French Embassy said a Malus “Royal Beauty” apple tree from Normandy was planted in the garden of the French Residence in London on 6 February 2022 - the anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne.
It said the planting “highlighted the UK’s historic ties with Normandy, of which apples are a speciality”. A French oak tree will be planted this autumn in Kensington Gardens, near the French Residence.
In France, Mr Macron will preside over a ceremony rekindling the flame of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe on Thursday. And to mirror the bonfires and beacons due to be lit in the UK in the Queen’s honour, emblematic buildings on the UK-facing coasts of Hauts-de-France will be lit up on Thursday evening.
The Embassy said the “illuminations will highlight our physical closeness and our desire to be part of this key national moment”.
