The touching tale of the late Queen’s last ride on her beloved pony Emma
On the two-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's death, her royal groom shares his moving memories
Today – September 8 – marks two years since the Queen passed away at Balmoral. And we were really moved by the touching tale of her last ride on her beloved fell pony Emma. Her royal stud groom, Terry Pendry, who was by the Queen’s side for 28 years, has given an emotional account of her last ride on horseback.
Speaking on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, he shared many memories of the monarch, but it was their last outing which was the most moving. As the Queen aged, Pendry, 74, says he added another step each year to her mounting block, so she could climb onto Emma’s saddle, and he revealed that by the end, she had become so slight and frail, he had to lift her off afterwards – which is how he knew she was ill. “She was getting lighter and lighter and frailer and frailer,” he says.
Their last ride together was at Windsor, on July 18, 2022, when he walked alongside her. “The very last time with her wasn’t a ride, I walked. She was quite frail,” he said. “I was on my feet walking round with her, and she looked down to me and she said, ‘This hasn't happened to me since I was a princess’. I said, ‘What?’ She said, 'Someone walking alongside me like this’.”
He offered to take a photograph of the occasion, adding, “Your pony’s 26, you’re 96 – that has to be a record” and he sent her the picture for her scrapbook. The following day she came to the stables to say goodbye to Emma before she left for Balmoral and Pendry says he was taken aback when she ticked him off. “You were very rude to me yesterday,” she said, followed by, “You said my age!”, before breaking into laughter. That would be the last time Pendry saw her.
However, he and Emma came to say goodbye, as, during the Queen’s funeral, as the hearse travelled down the Long Walk at Windsor, her faithful groom and beloved pony were there to pay their respects, with the Queen’s Hermes headscarf draped over her saddle. Pendry revealed he planned that moment himself and asked for the headscarf from the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly. Isn’t that just beautiful. “It was a privilege to have served such a wonderful, wonderful lady. I would do it again in a heartbeat,” he says.
Charles sells headscarves inspired by his mum
While the Queen may have favoured Hermes, King Charles has given the go-ahead for a range of eco-headscarves designed in her honour, by planet-friendly fashion brand Vin + Omi. They have collaborated on a limited run of 100 floral scarves, £85, for the Sandringham estate shop. When we checked, they’d sold out instantly.
The King chose the final design and worked with the innovative brand, who have produced a collection made using plant waste from the royal gardens. The exhibition, Royal Garden Waste to Fashion’s Future runs at Sandringham until October. Design duo Vin Cara and Omi Ong met Charles in 2018 and impressed him with their recycling innovation, including turning weeds, like nettles, into fabric. The King gave them the go-ahead to use his Highgrove nettles.
Bonnie times at the Braemar Gathering
It’s a Highland fling the Royal Family have been loving since Queen Victoria in 1848. The Braemar Gathering, which takes place on the first Saturday in September, when many royals are still enjoying their holidays at Balmoral. This year, Charles and Camilla looked in high spirits at the event, saying, on the Royal Family’s social media, they had ‘a wonderful afternoon’.
The event, in the Cairngorms National Park, involves traditional Highland games such as tug-of-war and caber tossing, and it now has Charles as Patron of the Braemar Royal Highland Society. His mother held the patronage for six decades. Elizabeth II missed the games only a handful of times during her 70-year reign, when she was on overseas tours and in 2022, just days before her death, aged 96.
Wearing a kilt in his own King Charles III tartan, he watched competitors taking part in sports, including the shot put and tug-of-war. Other famous faces in the crowd were Stephen Fry and Dame Judi Dench.
Sophie and Edward cheer on Team GB at Paralympics
With the Paralympics ending today - September 8 - it was great to see the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh popping over to France this week showing their support for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Flying into the city on Wednesday, Sophie and Edward, as patrons of the British Paralympic Association, British Cycling, and GB Hockey, looked delighted to spend an afternoon visiting the Paralympic Village, meeting athletes and support staff.
They also had a great time at the Grand Palais cheering wheelchair fencer, Oliver Lam Watson. While at the Palace of Versailles for the para equestrian events, they hung out with Queen Silvia of Sweden along with Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle.
Remembering Her Majesty with a memorial garden
Queen Elizabeth II always looked forward to her days out at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, making her final trip in May 2022. As RHS patron for 65 years, she valued her own gardens’ peace, privacy and restorative powers. So, it’s good to hear plans are blooming regarding a memorial garden to commemorate her.
The Royal Parks announced last week that planning permission has been granted for a two-acre garden in London’s Regent’s Park. Created on the site of a former plant nursery, it will feature flowers and plants that were significant in the late Queen’s life and reign, plus a pond, pergola, lookout tower, woodland and the garden’s straight path will represent the Queen’s ‘unwavering loyalty and service’. The memorial garden is expected to open in 2026, to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday.
That's great news about the memorial garden. I didn't know about those plans.