The Queen to present European Eventing Championship medals
The Queen will be attending the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships at Blair Castle this Sunday (13 September).
Her Majesty, who will be accompanied by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, will watch the final session of showjumping and present the medals.
“An invitation was extended to The Queen some time ago and it’s a huge honour and a great pleasure for us that she has accepted,” said Blair event director Alec Lochore.
“It’s quite rare for The Queen to take the time to do something like this, particularly in holiday time. It’s really exciting that she is coming.
“She has a great affinity with equestrianism, as both her daughter [the Princess Royal] and granddaughter [Zara Phillips] have been individual eventing European champion, plus her daughter and husband have been president of the FEI.”
Tomorrow (Wednesday, 9 September), The Queen becomes Britain’s longest reigning monarch, clinching the title from her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria. She will have been on the throne for 63 years.
Horses have already started arriving on site for this week’s European Championships in Scotland. The first horse inspection takes place tomorrow (Wednesday 9 September), with dressage on Thursday and Friday, cross-country over Ian Stark’s track on Saturday and showjumping on Sunday.
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The German team will start as favourites. Michael Jung, hot off the back of his Burghley win with La Biosthetique-Sam FBW, rides the eight-year-old FischerTakinou. Ingrid Klimke will be on her Pau winner and Badminton runner-up Horseware Hale Bob. The reigning champions also field world individual gold medallists Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo.
The Brits have 12 pairs at Blair rather than the usual six because they are the home nation.
The riders representing Team GBR are: Laura Collett (Grand Manoeuvre), Dani Evans (Smart Time), William Fox-Pitt (Bay My Hero), Pippa Funnell (Sandman 7), Kitty King (Persimmon), Wills Oakden (Greystone Midnight Melody), Gemma Tattersall (Arctic Soul), Izzy Taylor (KBIS Briarlands Matilda), Oliver Townend (Fenyas Elegance), Nicola Wilson (One Two Many), Francis Whittington (Easy Target) and Holly Woodhead (DHI Lupison)
Read about The Queen’s greatest equestrian moments in this Thursday’s H&H magazine, out Thursday, 10 September, plus an interview with Blair director Alec Lochore.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.